ADNOC has inked definitive agreements to award joint venture (JV) equity stakes in Turnwell Industries—the unconventional projects arm of ADNOC Drilling—to SLB and Houston-based Patterson-UTI, accelerating the Abu Dhabi major’s campaign to drill 144 unconventional oil and gas wells by the end of 2025.
In May, ADNOC signed nonbinding partnership agreements with Schlumberger Middle East S.A. (SLB) and Patterson-UTI promising to later award the two global service providers minority stakes in Turnwell which oversees the $1.7 billion unconventional drilling contract.
ADNOC Drilling, the largest drilling and integrated drilling services company in the Middle East by fleet size, owning and operating one of the largest multidiscipline drilling fleets in the world, retains a 55% majority stake in the JV through its wholly owned subsidiary ADH RSC LTD while SLB is granted 30% and Patterson-UTI 15%.
The venture will leverage innovations including artificial intelligence, smart drilling design, completions engineering, and production solutions to accelerate the UAE’s unconventional oil and gas program, the partners said in separate news releases.
ADNOC Goes Shopping: Brings Home a Mother Lode of Technology
For its part, SLB described its contributions to the venture as integrated drilling, stimulation, and completion services, project management, digital capabilities, and subsurface support.
With drilling already started and the JV now in place, ADNOC will accelerate its timelines for completion to boost ADNOC Drilling’s 2025 earnings, ADNOC noted in a news release.
To achieve this accelerated timeline, Turnwell has adopted batch drilling to improve efficiency and reduces costs, ADNOC said. Additionally, Louisiana-based Gordon Technologies, a provider of measurement-while-drilling technology and an Enersol company, will support the delivery of these wells, reducing drilling time and improving borehole quality.
Enersol is a technology-focused investment JV between ADNOC Drilling and the Abu Dhabi-based Alpha Dhabi Holdings, which acquired a 67.2% stake in Gordon Technologies, according to the Louisiana company’s website.
In August, Enersol also scooped a 51% stake in Dubai-based NTS Amega Global to support Turnwell’s drilling activities with its core offerings: manufacturing of advanced drilling tools, repair services, tool rental, and on-site services.
ADNOC intends to focus on long-term growth through the acceleration of eventual new phases of its unconventional drilling campaign which over time could involve “thousands of wells,” the company said in its press release.
Abu Dhabi’s tight oil and gas reserves are estimated at around 220 billion bbl of oil and 460 Tcf of gas.
Development Promises To Set New Industry Benchmarks
“The UAE’s unconventional energy assets hold a promising future,” Tarek Rizk, SLB’s president for the Middle East and North Africa region, said, noting that SLB holds a “leading position in the region deploying innovative digital, drilling, and completion technologies.”
“Today marks a defining moment for Turnwell and our key partners, SLB and Patterson-UTI,” ADNOC Drillings’ CEO Abdulrahman Abdulla Al Seiari said. “Turnwell will not only unlock the immense potential of the UAE's world-class unconventional energy resources but will also set new benchmarks for the global energy industry.”
In exchange for the minority equity interest, Patterson-UTI will provide unconventional drilling and completion expertise to Turnwell, as well as a limited cash contribution to fund its portion of working capital, according to a company news release.
"Patterson-UTI is excited to be a part of Turnwell, which we believe will be a groundbreaking project with multiple years of unconventional drilling and completion activity,” Andy Hendricks, Patterson-UTI's CEO, said.
