Ensign acquires Rowan’s land drilling division

Ensign Energy Services has entered an agreement to acquire the land drilling division of Rowan Companies, which includes 30 electric land drilling rigs, all equipped with top drives. Ensign expects the acquisition to boost its presence in the southern United States, complementing existing US operations in the Rocky Mountain region and California.

More than half of Rowan’s land drilling rigs were constructed in the last five years, and many of them are equipped with automated pipe-handling capabilities. The rig fleet is made up of 24 x 2000-hp rigs, 3 x 3000-hp rigs and 3 x 1500-hp rigs and is suited for extended-reach drilling in the resource plays of Texas, Louisiana, Alabama and Oklahoma.

Upon completion of the transaction, which is pending regulatory approval, Ensign’s global drilling rig fleet will increase to 340 marketed drilling rigs, with 115 drilling rigs located in the United States.

Matt Ralls, Rowan president and CEO, commented, “We believe our high-specification land rig fleet will be a strong addition to Ensign’s global fleet of over 300 land rigs and that our land division employees will have significant opportunities with such a large and well-respected operation. I want to personally thank all of the land division employees for their dedication and service over the years as part of the Rowan family, and wish them the best in their careers with Ensign.”