Adnoc Drilling, the largest national drilling company in the Middle East by rig fleet size, has received a contract worth $733 million from Adnoc Offshore for three island drilling rigs to support the growing operations at Abu Dhabi’s offshore Zakum field.
The drilling unit of the state-controlled oil major Adnoc has partnered with the Hong Kong-based Honghua Group for the design and building of the rigs, Adnoc Drilling said in a statement on Wednesday to Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, where its shares are traded.
The rigs will operate on new and established artificial islands at the offshore field.
The two companies will incorporate artificial intelligence and digitisation in the design and operation of the “next generation drilling rigs” and will also collaborate with AIQ, an Abu Dhabi-based AI firm.
The contract marks a “significant milestone in our company’s accelerated growth journey”, Abdulrahman Al Seiari, chief executive of Adnoc Drilling, said.
“These new island rigs will be the most advanced in the world” and the company’s partnership with Honghua Group will “amplify the creativity and ingenuity of our industry”, he added.
Adnoc, responsible for most of the UAE's crude production, is working to develop its reserves as it reaches for output capacity of five million barrels per day by 2027. It can produce up to 4.85 million bpd now.
Since the fourth quarter of 2021, Adnoc Drilling has invested more than $2.2 billion in building its fleet, to primarily serve its parent company.
With the addition of the three new rigs, the total rig count of Adnoc Drilling, which already operates 10 Island rigs, will rise to 148 by 2026, it said.
The company expects the delivery of rigs and commencement of operations in 2026 and the first full-year revenue from the new rigs in 2027.
In May, Adnoc Drilling also received a $1.7 billion contract from Adnoc to provide drilling services for the recovery of unconventional oil and gas resources.
Adnoc Drilling is executing the contract through its subsidiary Turnwell Industries, the company said at the time.
Adnoc has estimated unconventional recoverable oil resources of 22 billion barrels of very light and sweet crude, comparable with its flagship lower-carbon Murban grade.
Adnoc, which listed its drilling unit in on the ADX in 2021, raised $935 million by selling 880 million additional shares in Adnoc Drilling in May to institutional investors after recording strong demand for the offering.
The sale represented 5.5 per cent of Adnoc Drilling’s total issued share capital, boosting its free float to 16.5 per cent, with its parent retaining a majority stake.
Tech focus
Adnoc Drilling is also pushing to incorporate advanced technologies, including AI, across different segments of its operations, that include smart drilling design, engineering and production solutions.
Last year, Adnoc Drilling and Alpha Dhabi Holding, a unit of Abu Dhabi's International Holding Company, set up a joint venture to invest up to $1.5 billion to acquire technology-enabled companies in the oilfield services and energy sectors.
Last month, the JV, Enersol, agreed to increase its stake in US-based oil engineering company Gordon Technologies in a $270 million deal.
The move by Enersol to acquire an additional 42.2 per cent stake, along with its existing 25 per cent, will make the Abu Dhabi company the majority shareholder in Gordon Technologies, Adnoc Drilling said at the time.
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Need to know
Unlike other mobile wallets and payment apps, a unique feature of eWallet is that there is no need to have a bank account, credit or debit card to do digital payments.
Customers only need a valid Emirates ID and a working UAE mobile number to register for eWallet account.
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Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
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How to invest in gold
Investors can tap into the gold price by purchasing physical jewellery, coins and even gold bars, but these need to be stored safely and possibly insured.
A cheaper and more straightforward way to benefit from gold price growth is to buy an exchange-traded fund (ETF).
Most advisers suggest sticking to “physical” ETFs. These hold actual gold bullion, bars and coins in a vault on investors’ behalf. Others do not hold gold but use derivatives to track the price instead, adding an extra layer of risk. The two biggest physical gold ETFs are SPDR Gold Trust and iShares Gold Trust.
Another way to invest in gold’s success is to buy gold mining stocks, but Mr Gravier says this brings added risks and can be more volatile. “They have a serious downside potential should the price consolidate.”
Mr Kyprianou says gold and gold miners are two different asset classes. “One is a commodity and the other is a company stock, which means they behave differently.”
Mining companies are a business, susceptible to other market forces, such as worker availability, health and safety, strikes, debt levels, and so on. “These have nothing to do with gold at all. It means that some companies will survive, others won’t.”
By contrast, when gold is mined, it just sits in a vault. “It doesn’t even rust, which means it retains its value,” Mr Kyprianou says.
You may already have exposure to gold miners in your portfolio, say, through an international ETF or actively managed mutual fund.
You could spread this risk with an actively managed fund that invests in a spread of gold miners, with the best known being BlackRock Gold & General. It is up an incredible 55 per cent over the past year, and 240 per cent over five years. As always, past performance is no guide to the future.
Who is Ramon Tribulietx?
Born in Spain, Tribulietx took sole charge of Auckland in 2010 and has gone on to lead the club to 14 trophies, including seven successive Oceania Champions League crowns. Has been tipped for the vacant New Zealand national team job following Anthony Hudson's resignation last month. Had previously been considered for the role.
