MEOG: Abraj signs PNZ deal

Oman’s state-owned Abraj Energy Services this week signed a five-year deal to provide drilling and extraction services in the Partitioned Neutral Zone (PNZ) shared between Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

The deal, which covers the onshore Wafra oilfield, was signed between Abraj, Kuwait Gulf Oil Co. (KGOC) and Saudi Arabian Chevron (SAC), which respectively represent Kuwait Oil Co. (KOC) and Saudi Aramco in the Wafra Joint Operations (WJO) area.

Abraj, which has a fleet of 25 drilling rigs and 5 well maintenance rigs, will build three new drilling units as part of the deal as well as providing other related services to increase oil production at Wafra. In a press release accompanying the deal’s announcement it said that the deal fell “within the framework of strengthening its position and expanding its operations in the drilling services market in the Middle East and North Africa region.”

Meanwhile, Abraj CEO Saif Al Hamhami said: “The company is pre-qualified to provide various services in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Algeria, where the company’s advanced rigging fleet is linked to long-term contracts with leading national and international companies in the field of exploration and production.”

He added that Abraj has a competitive advantage “through its possession of the latest and most advanced drilling fleets in the Middle East and North Africa region. Regional and global markets such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Algeria, where rigs of 1,500 HP or more are particularly in demand.”