ADNOC Drilling Company has inked an agreement to acquire two premium high-specification Gusto MSC CJ46 design offshore jack-up drilling units (the “rigs”).

The $220 million-rigs will be brought into the waters off Abu Dhabi, where they will start producing revenue in the fourth quarter of 2023.

This acquisition goes in line with ADNOC Drilling’s fleet expansion and growth strategy, which is a key enabler of ADNOC’s accelerated production capacity growth to meet rising global energy demand. With this purchase, the Company will roughly treble its fleet of offshore jack-up rigs starting in early 2021, and additional considerable growth is anticipated from this point forward through the end of 2024.

Abdulrahman Abdulla Al Seiari, Chief Executive Officer of ADNOC Drilling, commented: “The acquisition of these premium jack-up rigs will support one of our major customers, ADNOC Offshore, with its drilling and completion services requirements, as it delivers accelerated production capacity. It is the next step in the execution of our strategy to rapidly grow our business, significantly boost revenue and increase shareholder returns.

“These rigs further cement our position as one of the world’s largest offshore jack-up rig fleet owners and supports our plan to grow our overall fleet to 142 owned rigs by 2024.”

ADNOC Drilling has significantly increased its fleet since listing on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange in October 2021, growing from 95 to 115 owned rigs as of March 31, 2023. The Company will run one of the largest offshore jack-up fleets in the world with the acquisition of the rigs, and it has plans for future expansion.