Noble Corporation recently updated its drilling rig status report stating three new contracts in the North Sea, West Africa, and Arabian Gulf areas. Operations for the new contracts will begin in the second quarter of 2013. The new contracts are promising signs for investors, though it may take a while before the company can deliver again after experiencing operational downtime in 2012.

As traditional oil fields produce less and less yield each year, the demand levels for offshore drilling service rise. This leads to higher day rates and more profitable operations. Drilling activity in the US Gulf of Mexico has also resumed, after it took a halt following the 2010 oil spill.

Investors must be patient with Noble Corporation for now, since the results of the company's new contract developments cannot be reflected until the third quarter of 2013. Indeed, the company is seeing troubled times, but there are substantial signs that conditions will improve later this year. The Noble George McLeod, a jack-up rig that is currently undergoing modification in the Arabian Gulf recently secured a new contract with Talisman to perform work in Malaysia starting May 2013.

The rig is expected to have a day rate of $115,000 under this contract.