TAB LE OF CONTE NTS
Official magazine of
the International
Association of Drilling
Contractors JAN/FEB 2024
Volume 80 • Number 1
drillingcontractor.org iadc.org
ARO Drilling took delivery of the
Kingdom 1 jackup in November. The
company’s CEO, Mohamed Hegazi,
talked to DC recently about his vision for
the future and ARO’s ongoing 20-rig
newbuild program (see Page 28).

CRITICAL ISSUES IN DRILLING & COMPLETIONS
12 Abdulrahman Abdulla AlSeiari, ADNOC Drilling:
ADNOC Drilling looks to digital and integrated
services solutions to drive better well deliveries
BY STEPHEN WHITFIELD, SENIOR EDITOR
16 Carlos José do Nascimento Travassos, Petrobras:
Petrobras relying on innovation, close supplier
collaboration to keep cost escalation in check
BY LINDA HSIEH, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER
18 Molly Smith, Murphy Oil: Scaling up efficiency
in a digital future will require better data
management, standardization
12 BY STEPHEN WHITFIELD, SENIOR EDITOR
22 Najeeb Al-Abdulrahman, Saudi Aramco: Skilled
31 workforce, innovations in drilling engineering
among Aramco’s key tenets for success
BY LINDA HSIEH, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER
24 Dan Hoffarth, Citadel Drilling: Drillers seek ways
to maintain capital discipline while still investing
to keep rigs competitive
BY STEPHEN WHITFIELD, SENIOR EDITOR
28 Mohamed Hegazi, ARO Drilling: Old views
of drilling, contracting must be shed
so industry can drive meaningful improvements
BY LINDA HSIEH, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER
31 Samantha McCulloch, Australian Energy
Producers: Amid regulatory headwinds,
Australia seeks policy stability, growth
for gas and LNG markets
BY STEPHEN WHITFIELD, SENIOR EDITOR
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
35 Next-gen petroleum engineering
students: Flexibility, growth and
culture among key motivators
STAFF REPORT
H S E & M E N TA L H E A LT H
36 Seadrill tackles employee
mental health and wellbeing
amid growing need for action
STAFF REPORT
D R I LLI N G CO N T R ACTO R • JAN UARY/FEB RUARY 2024
3