CRITICAL ISSUES IN DRILLING & COMPLETIONS
part of the drilling market? Has your
work in the drilling services segment
changed or enhanced the work you
do as a rig contractor?
ADNOC Drilling is continuing to seek ways to automate specific activities on its
jackups, such as on the Al Yasat jackup located offshore Abu Dhab i (pictured). One
opportunity being considered, for example, is technology that automates the pro-
cess of moving pipe from the deck to the drill floor.

The tools that will make our rigs safer are
also going to make them more efficient.

We’re looking at how we can better design
our rigs to reduce the risks our personnel
face, for example, with the management of
loads. We’re looking at whether solutions
related to digitalization can help. All of our
rigs are equipped with CCTVs, and we’ve
done a pilot with a computer vision sys-
tem where you can identify unsafe situa-
14 tions on the rig, like if people aren’t wear-
ing the right PPE. The system sounds an
alarm to the driller so he can stop and deal
with that. We’re shifting gears with that
right now, so hopefully soon we will have a
product that can generate additional value.

ADNOC Drilling began offering inte-
grated drilling services in 2018. What
drove that decision to step into this
It has definitely helped us. What is
every client concerned about? They want
the well to be delivered safely, efficiently
and cost effectively, and integrating ser-
vices brings all of that together under one
umbrella. When you have lump sum contracts,
you’re contracting with a company to bring
the rig in, another company that does the
directional drilling, and other companies
in the process. Everybody wants to hit
their targets, and these targets may differ
a little bit, so you’re going to see some inef-
ficiencies. But when you have integrated
solutions under one umbrella and one
leader, you have synergy. You can ensure
everyone’s on the same page.

Now, drilling companies are in charge of
the safety of everyone else out there on the
rig. Whether that’s the driller’s personnel
or third-party service company person-
nel, it’s all the responsibility of the drilling
company. To us, offering integrated ser-
vices improves those efficiencies. That’s
why our market share has been increasing
continuously. Today, we offer integrated
services for around 45-50% of our fleet.

We’re targeting 55-60% within the next
two years.

We’ve managed to demonstrate the effi-
ciency of integrated services to our clients,
resulting in savings of around $300 mil-
lion since we started the program. So,
we’re satisfied, although we’re still looking
to improve. We’re looking at increasing the
local manufacturing of some of our drilling
fluids, for instance.

We see this integrated offering as com-
plementary to our drilling business. I’ve
worked on the driller side and the operator
side, and I think both sides need to work
hand in hand to deliver the well. That’s
why I’ve been very much pushing for us to
develop this integrated solution.

ADNOC Drilling also handles well com-
pletions, which are normally not part
of a drilling contractor’s expertise.

What is your company working on to
improve completions efficiency in the
coming few years?
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CRITICAL ISSUES IN DRILLING & COMPLETIONS
There’s a lot that can be done in the
completion cycle, provided that we get the
right technologies. I’ll give you an example
on the unconventional side. We’ve been
seeing a lot of unconventional activity in
the US, Canada and even China, and there’s
a learning curve with the technologies
that they’ve gone through, a lot of new
technologies they have introduced into the
process. For us, the question is how can we bring
those learnings into the system and short-
en this learning curve? I don’t need to start
at step one. I can jump-start from where
they are and take the lessons they’ve
learned in those regions. There are a lot of
good technologies that can be introduced
for completions that we’ll be working on.

In late 2021, ADNOC Drilling announced
an alliance with Helmerich & Payne
(H&P). Can you talk about any lessons
you might’ve gained from this collab-
oration so far and what value has
been generated?
In 2022, ADNOC Drilling drilled a 50,000-ft well from Umm Al Anbar, one of ADNOC
Offshore’s four artificial islands in the Upper Zakum field offshore Abu Dhabi.

H&P is well-known for their work in the
unconventional space. They came in as
partners, and we’ve purchased eight rigs
from them so far – we’re probably one of
the first companies to own our own H&P
FlexRigs. All of those rigs are operational
and running very smoothly. We both see
value in each other, and we both want
to take this partnership to the next level.

Definitely, there is more we can work with,
and we will do what we can to make this
partnership even more successful. DC
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