Oil & Gas

Adnoc Drilling expands in Oman with SLB stake

June 2, 2025, 2:21 PM

Analysts say the SLB-Adnoc deal will help Oman meet its oil recovery targets

70% share in drilling rig business
Six rigs in Oman and two in Kuwait
Transaction to close in Q1 2026

Adnoc Drilling, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi state-backed oil major Adnoc, has bought a 70 percent share in SLB’s oil drilling business in Oman.

The agreement includes six fully operational land rigs in Oman and two in Kuwait, the company said.

The Emirati company will pay $91 million for the stake, with another $21 million payout to SLB linked to business performance.

Adnoc Drilling CEO Abdulrahman Abdulla Al Seiari said on the company’s website that the acquisition reinforces the company’s position as “one of the leading companies in drilling and integrated services”.

The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals.

Analysts said the deal would help Oman in its drive to meet its oil recovery targets.

“Adnoc has experience in drilling oil from difficult reservoirs and it will help Oman meet its long-term production targets,” Khamis Sawafi, a drilling engineer working at the Mukhaizna Field, one of Oman’s biggest oilfields, told AGBI.

Oman, which is part of Opec+, is currently producing about a million barrels of crude oil per day but expects its oil reserves, currently at about five billion barrels, to be severely depleted by 2060.

Apart from a single rig in Jordan, the acquisition will be Adnoc’s first drilling operations outside its home market of the UAE.

Adnoc Drilling last month reported a 24 percent year-on-year jump in net profit to $341 million during the quarter ended March 2025. Revenues surged 32 percent yearly to $1.2 billion.

The company listed on the Abu Dhabi stock exchange in October 2021, raising $1.1 billion in the largest IPO on the bourse at the time. Its share price on Monday was AED5.25 ($1.43), remaining mainly static year to date.