Noble Corp Names David Williams as CEO

01-05-2008

Offshore oil and gas drilling contractor Noble Corp  named its chief operating officer, David Williams, as chairman of the board, chief executive officer and president.

Williams, 50, joined the company in 2006 and has been its COO since April. He has 28 years of experience in the energy industry and prior to coming to Noble, he worked at Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc.

Williams' appointment is effective immediately, a Noble spokesman said.

"His real forte in the past was marketing and operations, two of the most important areas," Mark Urness, analyst with Calyon Securities said. "The only area where I might wonder about his expertise is finance, but that's why you have a CFO."

Still, Williams is a "good choice who fits the culture of the company better than an outsider would have," Urness said.

William Sears, a Noble board member and former BP Plc executive, had held these offices on an interim basis since Sept. 20 when former CEO, Mark Jackson, left abruptly after 11 months in the top job.

At that time, the Sugar Land, Texas, company gave no reason for Jackson's departure.

Noble, which operates 62 drilling rigs in markets that include the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and West Africa, may face new challenges from world's largest driller Transocean Inc, which recently completed its $17.4 billion merger with smaller rival GlobalSantaFe Corp on Nov. 27.

Transocean has 140 offshore rigs and eight under construction.