meed-logo

line1 line2 line3
SIGN IN / REGISTER

Adnoc Drilling wins $1.63bn contract from Adnoc Offshore

17 April 2025

Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

Adnoc Drilling has announced that its integrated drilling services unit has secured a contract worth $1.63bn from fellow Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc Group) entity, Adnoc Offshore.

The five-year contract covers the provision of directional drilling, drilling fluids, cementing, wireline logging and tubular running, Adnoc Drilling said in a statement on 17 April.

“The award incorporates advanced engineering and technical support for the effective delivery of extended reach and maximum reservoir wells offshore,” Adnoc Drilling said.

“This contract supports the growing oil field services segment, and its economic impact is already included in the current 2025 and 2026 guidance, underpinning the visibility of Adnoc Drilling’s business model and in support of the company’s financial targets,” the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange-listed company added.

For full-year 2024, Adnoc Drilling announced a net profit $1.3bn, a year-on-year increase of 26%.

The company’s full-year revenue grew 32% year-on-year to $4.03bn. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) also rose 36% year-on-year to $2.01bn.

Additionally, Adnoc Drilling said in its guidance for 2025 that it expects total revenue of $4.6bn-$4.8bn and Ebitda of $2.15bn-$2.3bn, with a margin range of 46%-48%. Net profit is expected to be $1.35-$1.45bn, with a margin range of 28%-30%.

The company expects capital expenditure in 2025 of $350m-$550m and a free cash flow (excluding mergers and acquisitions) of $1.3bn-$1.6bn, while maintaining a conservative leverage target of up to 2.0x net debt/Ebitda.

In 2025, Adnoc Drilling intends to enhance its operational capacity, projecting a rig count of over 148 by 2026 and more than 151 by 2028.

The company revealed it has secured a contract extension in Jordan and achieved prequalification in Kuwait and Oman, “paving the way for further regional expansion in 2025”.

In light of the positive financial results in 2024, Adnoc Drilling approved a cash dividend payment of $394m, bringing total dividends for the year to $788m, representing a 10% year-on-year increase.

Looking ahead, Adnoc Drilling said it seeks to increase dividends to at least $867m for 2025, and reach at least $1.15bn by 2028, based on its minimum 10% year-on-year dividend increase policy.

Growth through acquisitions

Achieving inorganic growth through strategic acquisitions is a key aspect of Adnoc Drilling’s expansion blueprint.

With this in mind, Adnoc Drilling partnered with Abu Dhabi-based Alpha Dhabi Holdings in November 2023 to establish Enersol, which has a mandate to invest up to $1.5bn in acquisitions.

To date, Enersol has announced acquisitions worth approximately $800m to acquire majority stakes in four technology-enabled oil field service companies, and “looking ahead, it aims to solidify its position as an AI [artificial intelligence]-centric investment company”, Adnoc Drilling said.

Enersol completed a transaction it started last July to acquire the majority 51% stake in UAE-based oil and gas services provider NTS Amega. The value of the transaction is estimated to be $58m.

Enersol also closed a transaction with UK-based private equity firm Dunedin to fully acquire US-headquartered EV Holdings. The transaction, started in August, is valued at $45m.

The joint venture then completed a transaction worth $207m to acquire the majority 42.205% stake in US oil and gas drilling services provider Gordon Technologies. Following the completion of the transaction in September, Enersol owns 67.205% of shares in the US firm.

ALSO READ: Abu Dhabi AI firm and SLB sign cooperation agreement

During the last quarter of 2024, Enersol signed an agreement to acquire a 95% equity stake in US-based Deep Well Services for $223m.

Separately, Adnoc Drilling said Turnwell Industries, its joint venture with the Middle East arm of US oil field services provider SLB and US firm Patterson-UTI International Holdings, has made progress with work on a $1.7bn contract awarded by Adnoc Group last May to provide drilling and associated services for the recovery of unconventional oil and gas resources in Abu Dhabi. 

Turnwell has delivered a total of 30 wells to Adnoc to date as part of its scope of work, with the initial wells delivered within 16 days of the contract award.

The broad scope of work on the contract covers drilling and appraisal of a total of 144 unconventional oil and gas wells.

Abu Dhabi is estimated to hold unconventional resources of 220 billion barrels of oil and 460 trillion cubic feet of gas in place.

ALSO READ: Abu Dhabi AI firm and SLB sign cooperation agreement

MEED’s May 2025 report on the UAE includes:

> GOVERNMENT & ECONOMY: UAE looks to economic longevity
> BANKING: UAE banks dig in for new era
> UPSTREAM: Adnoc in cruise control with oil and gas targets
> DOWNSTREAM: Abu Dhabi chemicals sector sees relentless growth
> POWER: AI accelerates UAE power generation projects sector
> CONSTRUCTION: Dubai construction continues to lead region
> TRANSPORT: UAE accelerates its $60bn transport push

https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/13712882/main3407.jpg
Indrajit Sen

Register for MEED's guest program now to access this article.

Click here to register
Exclusive from Meed
Related Articles
  • UAE GDP projection corrects on conflict

    24 April 2026

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16554417/main.gif
    MEED Editorial
  • April 2026: Data drives regional projects

    24 April 2026

    Click here to download the PDF

    Includes: Commodity tracker | Top 10 global contractors | Brent spot price | Construction output

    MEED’s May 2026 report on the UAE includes:

    > COMMENT: Conflict tests UAE diversification
    > GVT &: ECONOMY: UAE economy absorbs multi-sector shock
    > BANKING: UAE banks ready to weather the storm
    > ATTACKS: UAE counts energy infrastructure costs
    > UPSTREAM: Adnoc builds long-term oil and gas production potential
    > DOWNSTREAM: Adnoc Gas to rally UAE downstream project spending
    > POWER: Large-scale IPPs drive UAE power market
    > WATER: UAE water investment broadens beyond desalination
    > CONSTRUCTION: War casts shadow over UAE construction boom
    > TRANSPORT: UAE rail momentum grows as trade routes face strain

    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16553627/main.gif
    MEED Editorial
  • Firms announce 129MW Dubai data centre

    24 April 2026

    Dubai’s Integrated Economic Zones Authority (DIEZ) has signed a joint-venture agreement with Netherlands-headquartered data centre developer Volt to build a new artificial intelligence (AI)-ready data centre in the emirate.

    Planned for Dubai Silicon Oasis, the development will take the form of a campus covering up to 60,000 square metres.

    The project will be delivered in two phases, starting with 29MW of immediately available capacity, followed by a second phase adding a further 100MW of committed power.

    Under the arrangement, DIEZ will supply the land and essential infrastructure, while Volt will finance and develop the project, lead construction, and manage the design, leasing, implementation and day-to-day operations.

    French firm Schneider Electric, which has its regional headquarters in Dubai Silicon Oasis, will support the development by supplying advanced electrical systems, power distribution capabilities and smart data centre infrastructure.

    The GCC currently has more than 174 active data centre projects, representing over $93bn in investment, led by international players such as AWS, Google and Huawei, alongside regional developers including Khazna and Moro, supported by government-led localisation strategies.

    More than a dozen large-scale facilities valued at over $100m each are currently under tender, with further packages expected to reach the market over the next six to 12 months.

    The UAE is one of the leading data centre markets, with hyperscale campuses, sovereign cloud initiatives and edge data centre deployments underway.

    Data centre development is closely aligned with the UAE’s digital economy and AI roadmap, as well as the wider smart city programme.

    Priorities include hyperscale and colocation facilities to support cloud service providers; edge data centres to reduce latency and enable 5G and IoT use cases; energy-efficient designs using advanced cooling, modular construction and renewables; and strategic partnerships between global hyperscalers, local developers and utilities.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16548972/main.JPG
    Yasir Iqbal
  • Iraq signs upstream oil contract

    24 April 2026

    State-owned Iraqi Drilling Company (IDC) has signed a contract with China’s EBS Petroleum for a project to drill 17 horizontal wells in the southeastern portion of the East Baghdad field.

    Mohamed Hantoush, the general manager of IDC, said the contract signing came after a “series of successful achievements” by the company at the field.

    The achievements included the completion of a project to drill 27 horizontal wells and another project to drill 18 horizontal wells, according to a statement released by Iraq’s Ministry of Oil.

    In January, Iraq’s Midland Oil Company (MOC), in collaboration with EBS Petroleum, completed the country’s longest horizontal oil well in the southern part of the East Baghdad field.

    The well, which was called EBMK-8-1H, reached a total depth of 6,320 metres, and had a 3,535-metre horizontal section, making it the country’s largest horizontal well ever drilled.

    Senior officials from the Iraqi Oil Ministry and representatives of EBS Petroleum attended the well’s completion ceremony.

    EBS Petroleum is a subsidiary of China’s ZhenHua Oil, which is focused on Iraq.

    ZhenHua Oil is the operator of the field and is working with Iraqi partners to oversee the field’s development.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16543675/main4942.jpg
    Wil Crisp
  • Jordan tenders oil and gas terminal project

    24 April 2026

     

    Jordan’s Aqaba Development Corporation (ADC) has tendered a project for the development of the facilities at the Aqaba Oil and Gas Terminal.

    The project has been divided into two packages, and a bid deadline has been set for 15 June 2026.

    The oil and gas terminal is located south of the city of Aqaba in Jordan’s Southern Industrial Zone.

    The scope of Package 1 includes:

    • Rehabilitation of petroleum product pipelines of various sizes and their accessories (such as supports, structures and valves), including rectification of painting defects
    • Inspection and repair of pipe welds
    • Rectification and overall maintenance of the product booster pump
    • Inspection, maintenance, testing and commissioning of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) booster pumps
    • Rectification of two overhead cranes
    • Rectification and calibration of instrumentation, including pressure indicators and valves

    The scope of Package 2 includes:

    • Rehabilitation of control rooms and security rooms, replacing them with concrete control rooms, including infrastructure works and all required services
    • Removal of unused tanks and equipment previously used for exporting crude oil
    • Rehabilitation of the existing gate in order to improve safety and security with the installation of a tire killer
    • Carrying out maintenance and repairs for the oil berth dolphins and trestle with inspection
    • Maintenance, repair and reinstallation of oil berth concrete slabs
    • Removal and extension of the jetty platform
    • Installation of a lighting system at pipelines beside booster pumps
    • Installation of stripping pumps at the LPG terminal
    • Replacement of drain line path for slop tank of LPG booster pumps
    • Rehabilitation of the existing closed drain drum
    • Rectification of cone sealing issue of all truck loading arms
    • Conversion of manual valves to motor-operated valves
    • Remote operation of shut-off valves on the main pipeline alongside and near the entrance gate
    • Upgrading of the firefighting system

    The last date for questions and clarifications related to the project will be 13 May 2026.

    The Aquaba Oil and Gas Terminal was built to meet demand for petroleum products and LPG imports into Jordan.

    It is operated by state-owned Jordan Oil Terminals Company (JOTC), which was established in 2015 as a private shareholding company.

    Earlier this year, Abu Dhabi’s AD Ports Group signed an agreement with ADC to manage and operate the Aqaba multipurpose port.

    AD Ports is managing and operating the port under a 30-year concession agreement.

    Under the agreement, AD Ports and ADC will establish a joint venture to oversee port operations.

    AD Ports will hold a 70% stake in the joint venture, with the remaining 30% held by ADC.

    AD Ports Group will also invest AED141m ($38.4m) in the joint venture.

    The signing ceremony was held at the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority headquarters in Aqaba on 5 February.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16543632/main.jpg
    Wil Crisp