Abu Dhabi’s drilling contractor only 1 rig shy of 100

Abu Dhabi’s drilling contractor ADNOC Drilling is now only 1 rig shy of 100 following an introduction of two more jack-up rigs to its fleet.

ADNOC Drilling revealed last week it had introduced two more jack-up rigs to its offshore operations, bringing its rig fleet to 99 in total. The two rigs will operate for ADNOC at Lower Zakum and Umm Shaif fields around the end of 1Q 2022.

“With this, ADNOC Drilling cements its position as the region’s largest national drilling company, boosting its ability to deliver on ADNOC’s production capacity growth and driving its ambition to expand beyond the UAE’s borders,” the rig owner said in the statement.

UAE’s oil and gas giant ADNOC in September 2021 raised more than $1.1 billion after completing the bookbuilding and public subscription process for the initial public offering (IPO) of ADNOC Drilling. At the time, ADNOC Drilling had 96 rigs in its fleet.

In the years ahead, ADNOC Drilling plans to capitalise on and play a crucial role in enabling ADNOC’s plans to increase crude oil production capacity by 25 per cent to 5 million barrels per day by 2030. With that in mind, the rig owner is planning for a major rig fleet expansion program to support upstream growth plans by adding 23 rigs over the course of the coming 5 to 10 years.

Meanwhile, ADNOC is working toward its goal of increasing its oil production capacity. The company’s latest investment in the long-term development of the Umm Shaif offshore field nears $1 billion. The field has already been producing for 60 years.

Previously, ADNOC made an investment of $763.7 million in integrated rigless services across six of its artificial islands in the Upper Zakum and Satah Al Razboot (SARB) fields to support its production capacity expansion planned by 2030.