QatarEnergy and TotalEnergies JV prolong rig’s drilling gig for four years

ADES Holding Company, part of Saudi Arabia-headquartered ADES Group, has won a multi-year contract extension for one of its jack-up rigs with North Oil Company (NOC), a joint venture (JV) between QatarEnergy (70%) and TotalEnergies (30%).

The contract extension, covering a firm duration of four years, with three additional one-year options, will enable ADES’ Sapphire Driller jack-up rig to continue its offshore drilling campaign in Qatar with North Oil Company, which operates the giant Al Shaheen oil field, located 80 kilometers northeast of Ras Laffan. The operator recently handed out a long-term contract extension to EnerMech for work on this asset.

The Qatari player claims to use a technical and industrialized approach to drill the highly complex and extended reach wells at the field, as the relatively shallow reservoirs, with their tight spacing, create a risk of well-collision that needs to be precisely engineered to control and conduct.

According to ADES, this multi-year extension in Qatar, seen as a strategic market in the Middle East, adds significant revenue visibility and strengthens backlog sustainability, further supporting the firm’s long-term growth trajectory in the region.

The total contract backlog for the firm and optional periods is estimated at approximately SAR 816 million ($217.6 million), which was secured at a better daily rate. The drilling player, which confirmed a new country entry at the start of 2025, thanks to an assignment offshore Nigeria, recently added two rigs from Vantage Drilling to its fleet.

ADES also secured two contract renewals in Saudi Arabia for jack-up rigs that Aramco suspended last year.