ADNOC Drilling awarded $733 million for three newbuild island rigs
A contract valued at an estimated $733 million, has been awarded to ADNOC Drilling to assist the expanding activities at the offshore Zakum field with three new rigs that will operate on existing and newly constructed artificial islands.
The rigs will be designed and built as part of a partnership between ADNOC Drilling and Honghua Group (HH) and constructed by HH. Delivery of the rigs and commencement of operations is expected during 2026. ADNOC Drilling and HH will look to also collaborate with AIQ, an Abu Dhabi based artificial intelligence (AI) company. This partnership has been formed specifically to utilize AI, digitization, and advanced technology in the design and operation of the rigs.
Additionally, drilling operations on ADNOC’s artificial islands create the ideal conditions for extended-reach drilling (ERD) with the top five longest wells in the world being delivered from these islands off the coast of Abu Dhabi, the most recently delivered being over 52,000 ft. The rigs will be built to deliver ERD and eliminate the need for the rigs to be dismantled to be moved, dramatically improving efficiency and safety while reducing costs and emissions.
