New offshore drilling gig on the menu for ADES’ 2019-built rig

The AIM-listed oil and gas company Tower Resources has sent a letter of award to Advanced Energy Systems (ADES), part of Saudi Arabia-headquartered ADES Holding, for a rig contract in Cameroon, Central Africa.

This letter of award, which Tower Resources’ subsidiary, Tower Resources Cameroon SA (TRCSA), issued to ADES for the provision of a jack-up rig, proposed to be the Admarine 510 rig, will enable the drilling of the NJOM-3 well on the Thali license in Cameroon in Q4 2025.

The 2019-built Admarine 510 GustoMSC CJ-46-X100-D triangular design three-legged jack-up unit is capable of operating in water depth up to 375 feet. This rig is completing its five-yearly recertification project in Bahrain.

The letter of award is subject to contract and usual conditions precedent, including receipt of government approvals in Cameroon and completion of TRCSA’s farm-out to Prime Global Energies as disclosed in January 2025.

Jeremy Asher, Tower Resources’ Chairman & CEO, commented: “Our rig selection process has been made a little more complex by the opportunity to coordinate our timing with that of other nearby oil and gas companies, including Addax Petroleum in particular, however I believe it has resulted in a very good commercial outcome for all parties.”

The latest drilling assignment comes shortly after the jack-up secured a contract with Addax Petroleum for operations in Cameroon, which are slated to start in late 2025. Therefore, the current plan will see the rig drill the NJOM-3 well for Tower before beginning operations with Addax Petroleum.

The AIM-listed player elaborated: “The commercial terms of the ADES proposal to TRCSA are confidential, but the fact that the Admarine 510 was already committed to move to Cameroon for other operators has facilitated the discussions with the rig owner and resulted in more favourable terms than the owner could have offered otherwise.

“The terms are well in line with the company’s previous projections and compare very favourably to offers received from other rig owners earlier this year and last year.”