ADES renews suspended jackup deal for 10 years

Saudi oil and gas driller ADES has signed a contract renewal for one of its standard offshore jackup rigs previously suspended by Saudi Aramco.

The company renewed the contract for the yet undisclosed rig for a firm duration of ten years, which adds significant long-term revenue visibility and backlog sustainability. The deal is estimated to be worth around $290m.

The rig in question is currently fulfilling a medium-term contract in Egypt. In the country, ADES has seven jackup rigs in operation – Admarine VIII, Admarine V, Admarine IV, Admarine III, Admarine VI, Admarine 88, and Admarine 260 – so one of these will be moving back to Saudi Arabia upon completing its deal.

Last year, ADES mutually agreed to temporarily suspend operations on six of its 33 offshore jackups operating in the country for up to 12 months.

Although the company did not immediately reveal the customer, it came to light that it was Saudi giant Aramco. Currently, the offshore driller has 30 rigs on hire with the Saudi firm.

“We are very pleased to have secured this renewal for our unit in Saudi Arabia, particularly as it was among the six previously suspended rigs in the Kingdom. The new award validates the Group’s optimism regarding the outlook of our business in the Kingdom. The group also plans to continue focusing on securing further renewals and backlog additions in our key markets to boost long-term revenue visibility and to capitalize on the prevailing tightness in the global offshore jack-up market,” said Mohamed Farouk, CEO of ADES