15-year drilling assignment enables rig duo to rake in $1.15 billion

May 30, 2025, by Melisa Cavcic

UAE-based ADNOC Drilling has expanded its workload with ADNOC Offshore, a compatriot oil and gas heavyweight, by securing another multi-year drilling campaign in the Middle East, which will be undertaken by two of its jack-up rigs. This marks the rig owner’s third major contract in just over a month, bringing total awards to $3.6 billion and extending its long-term revenue pipeline.

This $1.15 billion, 15-year contract for two jack-up rigs, which will enable ADNOC Drilling to support ADNOC Offshore’s growing operations, is expected to begin around the end of 2Q 2025, delivering revenue in the second half of 2025 onward, further derisking and reaffirming the rig owner’s current 2025 and medium-term guidance.

Abdulrahman Abdulla Al Seiari, ADNOC Drilling CEO, commented: “This new contract is a clear vote of confidence in ADNOC Drilling’s technical leadership, operational excellence and long-term value creation. By integrating artificial intelligence (AI), automation and digitalization capabilities, the two new jack-up rigs, our newest and most advanced jack-up rigs, will ensure superior efficiency and performance for our client ADNOC Offshore.

“With this contract securing operations until 2040 and beyond, and providing strong, resilient and predictable returns, we are not only reinforcing our role in achieving ADNOC’s production capacity milestones but also driving sustainable long-term growth for our shareholders.”

The UAE driller, which has 47 offshore rigs in its fleet, claims to be uniquely positioned to support the country’s long-term energy strategy, thanks to the rapid deployment of rigs to meet growing demand. The firm explains that the new rigs have been prepared for operations at the Lamprell shipyard in Sharjah.

These rigs are anticipated to leverage advanced digitalization, real-time data analytics, and AI as ADNOC Drilling continues to deploy the technology throughout its fleet to improve safety, efficiency, and maximize asset value and operational uptime.

Tayba Abdul Rahim Al Hashemi, Chief Executive Officer of ADNOC Offshore, remarked: “In the past month, ADNOC Offshore has awarded long-term contracts worth c. $3.6 billion to ADNOC Drilling to safely accelerate our production capacity growth plans.

“ADNOC Drilling’s advanced fleet of jack-up and island rigs, market leading integrated drilling services and cutting-edge technologies are critical enablers to deliver ADNOC’s ambitious strategy. This partnership will help us to sustainably meet the world’s growing energy demands and maximize value for shareholders for decades to come.”

ADNOC Drilling’s latest multi-year engagement comes weeks after the firm won a $806 million deal for three rigs destined for the Zakum development project.