Adnoc launches rig fleet expansion programme in support of its 2030 Smart Growth Strategy

Abu Dhabi: Adnoc Drilling announced on Thursday a major rig fleet expansion programme to support Adnoc’s upstream growth plans and enable the delivery of its 2030 Smart Growth Strategy.

In the first phase of the wider expansion programme, Adnoc acquired, in November 2019, four technologically advanced and UAE-built land rigs with a total value of over Dh350 million. Following the integration of the four rigs, which will join the fleet in the first quarter of 2020, Adnoc Drilling plans to acquire dozens of additional land, offshore, and island rigs by 2025.

“Adnoc Drilling’s rig fleet expansion underscores Adnoc’s drive to unlock and maximise value from Abu Dhabi’s vast hydrocarbon resources and will further improve drilling and well-completion efficiencies,” said Abdulmunim Saif Al Kindy, Adnoc Upstream executive director and chairman of the Board of Directors of Adnoc Drilling.

“The programme is a pivotal enabler of our plans to substantially increase drilling for conventional oil and gas as well as considerably ramp up the number of unconventional wells, as we grow our oil production capacity and work to achieve gas self-sufficiency for the UAE,” he added.

The four new rigs acquired in November were manufactured in the UAE by National Oilwell Varco (NOV) and will be deployed in Adnoc’s onshore fields, which currently contribute more than 50 per cent of Adnoc’s daily Murban oil production capacity.

“Our rig fleet has expanded more than three-fold in less than a decade, from 29 rigs in 2010 to our current 95 rigs,” said Abdalla Saeed Al Suwaidi, chief executive officer of Adnoc Drilling, underscoring the group’s rapid increase of its rig count.

“The next phase of expansion will further strengthen Adnoc Drilling’s capabilities and reinforce our key role of supporting the Adnoc Group in capturing more value from every barrel of oil it produces,” he added.