Adnoc Drilling, a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), is significantly expanding operations and fleet.

 

Last week, it added three high-spec jack-up rigs to its fleet. The Yas, Ramhan, and Salamah have arrived in UAE waters, ready to join the operational fleet.

 

A few days earlier, the company sent an upgraded jack-up rig, Al Danat, offshore. This rig, which was upgraded at a Dubai shipyard, is the first of several new rigs that will join Adnoc Drilling’s rapidly expanding fleet this year.

 

The Al Danat is a BMC-400 Pacific class rig type and can operate in water depths of up to 121 meters. It holds a crew of 150.

 

These rigs are part of the company's fleet expansion programme, which aims to deliver new rigs for its customers and solidify Adnoc Drilling's position as the owner of one of the world’s largest operational jack-up drilling fleets.

 

In 2022, Adnoc Drilling added 16 new rigs to its fleet and hired over 1,500 people from around the world, including the UAE.

 

The company plans to add a further 27 rigs by 2024 and hire 3,500 UAE nationals and expats by the end of 2023.

 

This expansion drive is part of the company's goal to drill the thousands of wells needed to increase Adnoc’s production capacity and deliver UAE gas self-sufficiency.

 

In addition, Adnoc Drilling secured a $980 million contract last year from Adnoc to hire two jack-up offshore rigs and their associated manpower and equipment.

 

This contract supports the expansion of Adnoc’s production capacity as it responds to the growing global demand for lower carbon intensity oil and gas.

 

Over 80 per cent of the award value will flow back into the UAE’s economy under Adnoc’s In-Country Value (ICV) programme, supporting local economic growth and diversification.

 

Looking ahead, Adnoc Drilling in its fiscal year 2023 guidance communicated in February 2023 said it aimed to deliver revenue of between $3 billion and $3.2 billion for the full-year period, with EBITDA of $1.35 billion and $1.5 billion at an industry-leading EBITDA margin of 45 per cent - 47 per cent, and net income of $0.85 billion-$1.0 billion.

 

The capital expenditure is forecast to be in a range of $1.3 billion-$1.75 billion this year, while the company plans to maintain the leverage ratio below 2.0x.

 

Adnoc Drilling announced a good Q1 result. Its net profit for Q1 2023 jumped 25 per cent to $219 million, supported by a 19 per cent increase in revenue to $716 million. Revenue growth was achieved across all segments, with offshore jack-up and oilfield services leading the way.

 

However, Q1 revenue was 2 per cent lower than Q4 2022 due to fewer calendar days and lower impact from reimbursement of cost escalation claims.--OGN/ TradeArabia News Service 

Dubai Holding Real Estate (DHRE) has announced that it has awarded the road and infrastructure development contract to UAE-based Wade Adams for Phase One of Plantation Development located on a prime site between Hamdan Road, Latifah Street and Emirates Road in Dubai.

 

Wade Adams is a leading construction and project development company in UAE.

 

The Plantation Development project is located on a 185 HA site between Hamdan Road (D54), Latifah Street (D67), and Emirates Road (E611) in Dubai and is in close proximity to other low density residential villa developments.

 

Being mostly a desert landscape, the project site challenges conventional arrangements of plotted communities through an environment in which buildings and landscape casually coexist in balance rather than in contrast, said DHRE in a statement.

 

The contracted scope of work includes installation/construction of infrastructure of the development including the road network, service reservation, storm water drainage, street lighting, traffic control and potable water system.

 

As per the deal, Wade Adams will also be responsible for providing sewerage collection system, main irrigation system, firefighting system, irrigation and fire reservoir and pump station, electrical power (HV & LV), telecommunication, security ducts, gas ducts, spare ducts and all utility tie-in connections to adjacent packages.-TradeArabia News Service

ADQ, an active sovereign investor with a focus on critical infrastructure and global supply chains, and Energy Capital Partners (ECP), the largest private owner of power generation and renewables in the USA, have entered into an agreement to establish a 50-50 partnership in new-build power generation and energy infrastructure. 

 

The partners plan to make total capital investments of more than $25 billion across 25GW worth of projects. The combined initial capital contribution from the partners is expected to amount to $5 billion, the companies said.

 

Combining ADQ’s proven expertise in infrastructure investments with ECP’s premier energy investment platform in electrification and power and renewable generation, the partnership aims to service the growing power needs of data centers, hyperscale cloud companies and other energy-intensive industries, said a statement. 

 

As the continuity and quality of power supply is crucial for these high-growth industries, the need for captive power plants that are in proximity is often a pre-requisite. The partnership is focused on meeting these needs over the long-term, with its mandate including greenfield development, new build and expansion opportunity projects that will establish it as a leader in power generation for a growing American economy, it said.

 

The partnership’s primary geographic focus of the projects will be the US. A portion of the capital may also be allocated towards opportunities in selected other international markets. 

 

Led by a highly experienced management team with strong expertise in power and infrastructure development and operations, the joint venture is primed to begin pursuing development opportunities immediately. Specialised teams in development and operations will ensure rapid origination and efficient commissioning of relevant projects. 

 

According to a recent report by the International Energy Agency (IEA), the world’s electricity consumption is forecast to rise at its fastest pace in recent years. This surge is in part driven by the growing needs of data centers and industrial electrification. In the USA, a strong increase in electricity demand is expected to add the equivalent of California's current power consumption to the national total over the next three years.

 

Recent research forecasts that global power demand from data centers will increase by 50 percent by 2027 and by as much as 165 percent by the end of the decade, driven by the expansion of AI and high-density data centers. The US Department of Energy estimates that data center load growth has tripled over the past decade and is projected to double or triple by 2028.

 

Mohamed Hassan Alsuwaidi, Managing Director and Group Chief Executive Officer of ADQ, said: “The acceleration of AI and its societal adoption presents attractive opportunities to serve the power and infrastructure needs of data centers and hyperscalers. Meeting these power needs presents evolving challenges for governments worldwide in ensuring secure, stable, and commercially competitive electricity supply. As an active investor with a sharp focus on critical infrastructure and proven capability in building long-term partnerships, we are in a prime position to help address these shifting structural dynamics. Our partnership with ECP allows us to invest meaningfully in generation and related infrastructure assets that support accelerating demand for power, promoting the progress of these industries and helping to future-proof economies.” 

 

Doug Kimmelman, ECP’s Founder and Executive Chairman, commented: “AI will be a major driver of US economic and job growth over the coming decade, but not unless ample new electricity supplies are developed. We are honored to build an investing partnership with ADQ to provide the electricity resources demanded by the rapidly growing AI data center sector where the build out of new power generation resources or ‘additionality’ in the US will require significant, patient capital with a long-term horizon. Given the tightening supply/demand dynamics in US power markets, new generation capacity will be needed and our focus in this partnership will therefore primarily be on new build natural gas fired power generation assets in scale to meet the needs of hyperscalers on a timely basis.” 

 

ADQ manages over 25 portfolio companies across more than 130 countries, operating across key sectors of Abu Dhabi’s rapidly transforming economy, including energy and utilities, food and agriculture, healthcare and life sciences, and transport and logistics. Infrastructure investments have been at the core of ADQ’s mandate since it received its first asset transfers from the Government of Abu Dhabi, which included major power and water companies. 

 

Since its founding in 2005, ECP has established itself as a leading equity and credit investor in energy transition infrastructure. Its portfolio includes investments in power, renewables, storage, sustainability, and decarbonization infrastructure. ECP has owned, controlled, and operated over 83 GW of power generation across all major US power markets, spanning a variety of technologies including natural gas, geothermal, hydro, solar, wind, battery storage, and waste-to-energy over the past two decades. - TradeArabia News Service