Aberdeen-headquartered KCA Deutag locks down land drilling contract work worth £311m

Aberdeen-headquartered drilling, engineering, and technology specialist KCA Deutag has signed paperwork on contracts with a total value of $379 million (£311m) with customers in the Middle East and Asia.

The firm has locked down work with new and existing clients in Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Pakistan (file image). Picture: contributed.

The firm has locked down the land drilling contracts and contract extensions with new and existing clients in Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Pakistan, and says they strengthen its position in its field in these markets. They follow previous contract win announcements by the group, including one in 2021 worth a collective $550m.

In Saudi Arabia, KCA Deutag has been awarded contract extensions and an equipment upgrade project with a combined value of $292m. It said the extensions amount to 23 years of additional work across four rigs, while the equipment upgrade project includes the delivery of mechanised catwalks on two rigs to improve safety and operational performance.

Regarding Oman, the business has extended two existing contracts and gained one new contract award with a total value of $78m. Two rigs in Oman have secured extensions, while a third rig, currently stacked, has been awarded a new three-year deal.

Furthermore, the drilling firm has in the country built the first two highly automated newbuild rigs that it says are currently undergoing commissioning and are due to be mobilised to their first location shortly. KCA Deutag added that it has finalised the design of the next two with the customer and has begun the construction phase for rig delivery in 2024. Each of the four rigs will fulfil a ten-year drilling operations contract secured last year.

One rig in Pakistan has also secured a new one-year contract, with a value of $9m with an existing customer in the country.

Simon Drew, KCA Deutag’s president of land, said: “These contract awards and extensions in the Middle East demonstrate our strategic focus on sustainable growth in this key core region for our group. This is testament to our strong safety and operational performance as we collaborate with our customers to safely deliver additional drilling programs and solutions for the energy transition in the region.”

KCA Deutag says its network spans 25 countries, with more than 10,500 staff, and it currently operates or owns 160 drilling rigs across the Middle East, Europe, Africa, Caspian Sea, Latin America, and Canada.