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ADNOC Drilling Co., a unit of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), is eyeing at least a 'single digit growth in every quarter' as it leverages its fleet size and expands operations into its GCC neighbours.
At a media roundtable on Thursday, Chief Financial Officer Youssef Salem said the oil field services company plans to add 15 rigs this year to the 129 it owned at the end of last year. While the capex this year is less than last year's, "when we had a massive fleet expansion, we are looking at a capex of $750 million -$950 million this year," said Salem.
The fleet expansion will help to expand services in the wider region, something which was not possible so far as most of its rigs were deployed in the service of ADNOC.
The additional rigs will allow the company to bid for contracts in Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia where it is currently undergoing the prequalification process, he said.
The state-backed firm listed on the Abu Dhabi bourse in 2021 after ADNOC, its majority shareholder, raised $1.1 billion via an IPO. Last month, the driller in collaboration with the Abu Dhabi investment company Alpha Dhabi Holding set up a joint venture called Enersol Rsc Ltd., with Alpha Dhabi contributing its 25% stake in Gordon Technologies LLC to Enersol.
The company is scouting for other potential acquisitions, particularly in the US, where according to Salem, there has been a lot of innovation in the unconventional capacity building space. Under scrutiny would be companies that can help ADNOC Drilling expand its suite of services, offer synergy and are also willing to set up immediately in the Middle East
(Writing by Brinda Darasha; editing by Seban Scaria)
