Adnoc Drilling Company on Monday announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire an additional three brand new high-specification offshore jack-up drilling units (the “rigs”).

The cost of the acquisition is part of the Company’s three-year guidance on capital expenditure and its strategic growth plans.

The acquisition underpins the company’s accelerated fleet expansion and enterprising growth strategy.

Earlier sale and purchase agreements were signed on May 30 (for two rigs),  June 10 (one rig) and Aug.24 (one rig).

The latest three rigs have a combined cost of $320 million (Dhs1.17 billion) and are premium high-specification jack-up rigs. Abdulrahman Abdullah Al Seiari, Chief Executive Officer of Adnoc Drilling, commented, “We continue to execute our bold growth strategy as a key enabler of ADNOC’s ambitious production capacity targets. The latest acquisition of these premium rigs will be central to our success and cement our position as one of the world’s largest jack-up rig fleet owners, as we strive to significantly boost revenues and shareholder returns over the coming years.”

As the Company’s new rigs progressively enter the fleet, Adnoc Drilling expects a further boost to its financial and operating performance to the benefit of its clients, shareholders and the UAE. Since listing on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange in October 2021, Adnoc Drilling has rapidly expanded its fleet from 95 to 108 owned rigs, as of 30th September.  With the addition of the latest three high-specification rigs the Company will operate one of the largest offshore jack-up fleets in the world, with 30 rigs, and plans further growth in the short term.

Adnoc Drilling continues to demonstrate strong and resilient growth combined with a sustainable and progressive dividend policy. In the nine months to Sept.30th, 2022, the Company delivered revenue of $1.94 billion, a 15 per ecent increase year-on-year, with $568 million in net profit - a 24 per cent increase.

Adnoc Drilling Company earlier announced its financial results for the nine months and third quarter ended Sept.30, 2022.

Adnoc Drilling’s net profit for the nine-month period grew significantly, by 24 per cent to $568 million, while revenue increased 15 per cent to $1.94 billion compared to the same period last year. Nine-month Ebitda was $879 million for 2022, up 12 per cent year-on-year, at an industry-leading Ebitda margin of 45.3 per cent.

Year-on-year revenue growth was led by the Onshore segment, with Adnoc Drilling positioned as a key enabler of Adnoc’s ambitious programme to significantly boost production capacity. The Company’s Oilfield Services (OFS) segment equally achieved very strong year-on-year gains.

Third quarter revenue grew 17 per cent year-on-year to $671 million, driven primarily by the Onshore and OFS segments. Third quarter Ebitda increased by 5 per cent year-on-year to US$299 million for the period.

Net profit for the third quarter grew by 6 per cent year-on-year to $189 million.

Abdulrahman Abdullah Al Seiari, Chief Executive Officer of Adnoc Drilling, commented, “Our strong nine-month results were underpinned by the consistent execution of our strategic priorities as we continue to prove our value as a reliable and efficient operator and fast-growing drilling leader. Our accelerating rig fleet expansion programme is a prime example. Supporting the UAE’s long-term production capacity targets, the programme is already paying off as new rigs commence operations. A significant number of additional rigs are scheduled to come onstream in the fourth quarter, further boosting our financial and operating performance as we head towards 2023 and continued shareholder value creation.

“Sustainability continues to be a major focus as we deliver on our commitment to reduce and, where possible, eliminate emissions from our operations. We are also partnering with our customers to support their sustainability goals. An example is the recently delivered 50,000ft extended reach well for Adnoc Offshore in the giant Zakum field, tapping into an undeveloped part of the reservoir. This well helps unlock an additional production capacity of 15,000 barrels per day and achieves this without the need for further costly infrastructure and with minimal environmental footprint, and is the world’s longest extended reach well. Such pioneering drilling engineering achievements, reinforce Adnoc Drilling’s prime position in the drilling and completion services industry.”

On 3 October 2022, Adnoc Drilling celebrated one year since listing on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX). At the time, the initial public offering was the largest listing in the history of the exchange and was 31 times oversubscribed. Since listing, the Company has delivered a total shareholder return of 53.7 per cent as at 30th September 2022.

WAM