Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) awarded a $980 million (AED 3.6 billion) contract to ADNOC Drilling to hire two jackup offshore rigs and associated manpower and equipment to support the emirate’s drive to expand production capacity to 5 million B/D by 2030 and enable the UAE to be self-sufficient in natural gas.
ADNOC Offshore announced the award on 13 October to ADNOC Drilling which is the Middle East’s largest national drilling company by rig fleet size. Over 80% of the award value will flow back into the UAE’s economy under ADNOC’s In-Country Value program which supports domestic economic growth and diversification.
The latest $980 million award brings the total value of awards from ADNOC Offshore to ADNOC Drilling in 2022 to nearly $5.95 billion (AED 21.84 billion), according to the company.
On 10 October, ADNOC Drilling won a $1.53 billion (AED 5.58 billion) contract to provide 12 jackup rigs, two island rigs, and associated integrated drilling services. This followed two awards in August worth $3.43 billion (AED 12.59 billion) to hire eight jackup rigs.
ADNOC Drilling owns 105 rigs in its fleet, including 28 offshore jackup units, which qualifies the company as having one of the largest operational jackup fleets in the world.
Yaser Saeed Almazrouei, ADNOC upstream executive director, noted in announcing the newest award that the two additional jackup rigs “support our ongoing efforts to responsibly unlock our lower-carbon-intensity oil and gas resources,” referencing Abu Dhabi’s premium-grade Murban crude on which trading in futures contracts began in 2021 as Abu Dhabi seeks to promote the carbon-friendly grade as a possible benchmark for Middle East oil pricing
In September, ADNOC awarded $1.83 billion in framework agreements for directional drilling and logging-while-drilling solutions to five companies: Abu Dhabi’s Al Ghaith Oilfield Supplies and Services Company, Al Mansoori Directional Drilling Services, Schlumberger Middle East SA, Halliburton Worldwide Limited Abu Dhabi, and Weatherford Bin Hamoodah Company LLC following a tender.
As for results of all of its drilling: ADNOC announced three onshore oil discoveries in May, including one at Bu Hasa, Abu Dhabi’s biggest onshore field, with a crude production capacity of 650,000 B/D.
The Bu Hasa discovery revealed 500 million bbl of oil from an exploration well in the field that offered substantial new premium-grade Murban oil resources.
A second discovery of 100 million bbl was reported on Abu Dhabi’s Onshore Block 3 operated by Occidental, and a third discovery of around 50 million bbl of more light, sweet Murban crude was found on the Al Dhafra Petroleum Concession.
Positioned among the top 10 global oil producers, the UAE pumps an average 3.2 million bbl of petroleum and liquids per day, with Abu Dhabi laying claim to about 96% of the UAE’s 100 billion bbl in proven oil reserves (ranked 6th worldwide), according to a country report published in July by the US Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration.
