MENAdrill Investment Company (MIC), incorporated in Cayman Islands and principally promoted by First Energy Bank (FEB), has signed a three-year $130 million limited recourse Islamic financing with Gulf International Bank (GIB).

The facility is to part finance its first rig namely MENAdrill I, which has been in operation in the Gulf of Mexico since May 2011.

GIB and FEB are jointly participating in this financing.

MIC took delivery of its first rig MENAdrill I in November 2010 from the Maritime Industrial Services (MIS) yard in Sharjah and the rig was subsequently mobilised to Mexico for operating under a contract with PEMEX, the national oil and gas company for the government of Mexico.

MENAdrill I is a mobile, offshore self-elevating Friede and Goldman designed Super M2 Jack-Up rig with capability to operate in a water depth of up to 300ft and with rated drilling depth of up to 30,000ft.

The construction of the second rig, MENAdrill II, has similar technical specifications as MENAdrill I and was successfully constructed with the rig delivered by MIS in March 2011.

During the last three years since inception, MIC has passed through an extremely challenging global economic environment. Despite these turbulent market conditions, MIC has emerged successfully.

"MENAdrill I is successfully operating and we have signed a charter contract for MENAdrill II which has already been mobilised to Mexico and is expected to commence operations by next month in the Gulf of Mexico under a contract with PEMEX," said FEB acting chief executive and MIC chairman Mohamed Ghanem.

"The rigs are designed to high specifications and stringent quality control. We believe there is high demand for our rigs regionally and globally and the rigs can operate in drilling and workover assignments," said FEB head of investment banking Ramzi Al Sewaidi. – TradeArabia News Service