Global Land Drilling Rigs Tracker

Westwood’s Global Land Drilling Rigs Tracker

Each month Westwood’s onshore team provides a global update on onshore drilling rigs, with data sourced from and analysed using, Global Land Rigs. Bookmark this page for regular updates on onshore drilling rigs.

Updated – 17th May, 2023

• Tamboran Resources has contracted Helmerich & Payne’s 469 rig, a 1,500 HP, Flex 3 rig for drilling in the low carbon dioxide unconventional gas plays of the Beetaloo basin. The company aims to start shale gas production in 2025 following the government’s decision to reopen exploration of the Northern Territory’s onshore Beetaloo basin. The company is considering contracting four more H&P rigs for further operations in Australia. 
• ADNOC spudded the first well in its first CO₂ to rock drilling campaign. This project will be fully operational in 2H 2023 and entails injecting a mixture of CO₂ and seawater into carbonate saline aquifer deep underground rock formations. This is a partnership with Masdar, Fujairah Natural Resources Corporation and 44.01, an Omani environmental company, and is aligned with the companies $15bn commitment to reducing its carbon footprint across its operations. 
• Invictus Energy confirmed the presence of light oil, gas-condensate and helium at the Mukuyu-1 well from mud gas compositional analysis. These results are consistent with wireline log interpretations confirming multiple oil and gas pay zones in the Cabora Bassa basin. Thus far, gas condensates ratios are estimated to fall between 30 to 135 barrels per million cubic feet. The Mukuyu-1 well was drilled utilising Exalo’s 202, 1,200 HP rig. 
• Turkish Petroleum (TPAO) made a billion-barrel onshore oil discovery in the Aybuke Yalcın-1 probe. This discovery has a production potential of 100,000 bopd and was made in the 162 metre proven oil play southeast of the Sehit, at a depth of 2,609-2,771 metres. TPAO’s chairman highlighted that this year the company is planning on drilling additional exploration wells in the Sirnak region. 
• Sasol announced it has discovered gas at its Bonito-1 exploration well in Mozambique. The well, drilled in Area PT5-C, was drilled to a total depth of 1,934 metres by Marriott Drilling’s Rig 46, a 1,080 HP Drillmec unit. Despite the initial success it is yet to be confirmed whether the well contains commercial amounts of hydrocarbons.

Todd Jensen
Analyst, Onshore Energy Services
tjensen@westwoodenergy.com

Updated – 17th April, 2023

• Omega Oil and Gas has suspended the Canyon-2 well for completion and flow testing after it was drilled to 3,807m, wireline logged and cased. The mud logs and wireline logs both confirmed the presence of hydrocarbons in sands and coals within the Kianga and upper Back Creek Group Formations. SLB’s 185, 1,200 HP rig was released form the Canyon-2 well location and is now being mobilised to spud the Canyon-1 exploration well in mid-May 2023. 
• Parker Wellbore has signed contracts for use of the 256 and 165 rigs in Mexico, the operator contracting the rigs is yet to be confirmed, however, the rigs have been contracted previously by Mexoil. Both units are 3,000 HP with OIME drawworks and NOV top drives. 
• United Oil and Gas (UOG) commenced drilling the ASD-3 well utilising Sino Tharwa’s 2,000 HP, ST-1 rig. Primary targets are the Abu Roash-E and Abu Roash-C reservoirs whilst the Lower Bahariya reservoir acts as a secondary target. The company intends to conclude drilling and complete within 55 days at a total depth of 3,649m. 
• Rhein Petroleum GmbH contracted a fully-crewed RED Drilling & Services GmbH rig for drilling of the Schwarzbach-2 (SCHB-2) development well. The company has set a mid-June 2023 spud date with the rig due to be mobilised in early-2023. Drilling is expected to take 25 days with a total depth target of 2,255m at a true vertical depth of 1,709m. Following this the well will be tested for 12 days.

Todd Jensen
Analyst, Onshore Energy Services
tjensen@westwoodenergy.com

Updated – 17th March, 2023

• The Angolan Secretary of State for the Ministry of Mineral Resources, Oil & Gas has made public that the country has plans to launch a bidding round for twelve onshore blocks in the Congo and Kwanza basins. The blocks on offer are the Con: 2, 3, 7 & 8 and the Kon: 1, 2, 7, 10, 13, 14, 15 & 19 with bidding expected to commence in September.
• Saudi Aramco awarded a long term well testing contract to National Energy Services Reunited Corp (NESR). This will allow the company to apply NESR’s advanced well testing technology on various applications and expand its well testing services. This follows a nine-year wireline services platform contract awarded to NESR on 10 January 2023.
• ADNOC Drilling signed a contract worth $252 million with China Petroleum Technology & Development Corporation for the provision of 10 new build 1,500 HP fast desert moving hybrid power land rigs. Utilising high-capacity battery and engine automation in parallel with traditional diesel generators the new rigs will have 10-15% lower emissions and will support the company’s decarbonisation strategy of a 25% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. The first rigs are due to be delivered in Q4 2023. Additionally, the company will lease four land rigs for onshore drilling projects, meaning 14 rigs in total will be added to the ADNOC Drilling onshore fleet, currently standing at 73 rigs including workover units.
  
• ADNOC Drilling and Masdar have signed a 5-year MoU for geothermal drilling where the companies will evaluate ADNOC Drilling’s potential to provide geothermal drilling services. ADNOC Drilling will also provide advisory and technical support services to Masdar as it takes on geothermal energy projects on a global scale. Through this deal Masdar hopes to benefit from ADNOC Drilling’s drilling and completion technologies to generate geothermal energy to thousands of households and office buildings.
• Eni has finalised the acquisition of BP’s 33.15% and 45.89% working interest in In Amenas and In Salah gas concessions in Algeria, respectively. This development comes after the Algerian national and antitrust authorities approved the buyout of these concessions which are jointly operated with Equinor and Sonatrach. This will boost ENI’s equity production to ~130 kboe/d in 2023 given that these concessions produced ~11 billion cubic metres of gas and 12 mmbbl of condensate and LPG in 2021.

Todd Jensen
Analyst, Onshore Energy Services
tjensen@westwoodenergy.com

Updated – 17th February, 2023

• KCA Deutag finalised the acquisition of the Kuwaiti division of Saipem Onshore Drilling, as part of the $550 million deal which will also see Saipem obtain a 10% stake in KCA Deutag. Saipem Onshore Drilling’s Kuwaiti fleet consisted of the 3,000 HP, 5913 and 5946 rigs. KCA is expected to finalise its acquisition of Saipem Onshore Drilling’s Latin American business as well as its fleets in Romania and Kazakhstan on 31 March 2023.
• Webuild has confirmed that they will continue with Clough’s work in the Waitsia 2 onshore gas project, Australia. Concerns were eminent regarding the timely delivery of the Mitsui E&P operated gas project after Clough was acquired by Webuild, following going into administration in December 2022. Webuild will construct a new purpose-built production facility with a daily production capacity of 250 terajoules which Clough had been contracted to build.
• TMK Energy secured one of Major Drilling Group’s rigs for drilling operations in the Pilot Well Program (PWP). This program entails drilling 3 production wells, and the provision of installation pumps, with drilling scheduled to commence in April for eight weeks. TMK was prompted to go ahead with the PWP after results from the Snow Leopard-02 (SL-02) exploration well indicated a strong possibility of an early gas breakthrough and commercially viable production rates. This follows Petro Matad’s announcement on 14 February that it is ready to drill the Velociraptor-1 well in Block V, with a drilling contract already signed with Major Drilling with an initial spud date expected in Q2 2023.
• ADNOC Drilling is planning a two year, $2.5 billion spending spree on drilling rigs to keep in line with the UAEs capacity enhancement programme. The announcement follows the release of ADNOCs annual financial results for 2022, with an additional $1 billion in capex for 2023 and 2024 on top of the original guidance. ADNOC Drilling now expects to increase its fleet to 142 units by the end of 2024, up from a current fleet of 115 units of which 74 are onshore drilling rigs. This drive to increase its rig fleet shows ADNOCs ambition to reach its 5 mmbbl/d production capacity target by 2027.

Todd Jensen
Analyst, Onshore Energy Services
tjensen@westwoodenergy.com

Updated – 17th January, 2023

• ADNOC launched its new gas unit, ADNOC Gas, effective from 01 January 2023. This new division will focus on all processing, operations and marketing and is a joint venture between existing ADNOC Gas Processing and ADNOC LNG businesses. This is a move that will grow its gas production and processing capacity.
• Saudi Aramco has sought expressions of interest for the second phase of its Jafurah Phase 2 development. Aramco stated that at least five EPC packages will be included, following a raft of contract awards in 2021 as part of Phase 1. One package will include a gas treatment, a second will involve utilities and off-site facilities, a third will see work on Jafurah’s gas compression facilities and two pipeline packages will also be on offer, combined requiring more than 830km of pipeline.
• Sinopec has set a new vertical drilling record of 8,866m at its Yuanshen-1 exploration well in the Sichuan Basin by utilising Sinopec’s ultra-deep carbonate drilling technology, which permits drilling in deep hydrocarbon reservoirs. To further explore the deep oil and gas basins, Sinopec unveiled ‘Project Deep Earth’ Natural Gas Base in Sichuan and Chongqing’ in which it will conduct deep E&P activities in collaboration with several subsidiaries.
• KCA Deutag reported three contract extensions in Oman; the 1,500 HP T-849 and T-858 rigs and the 2,000 HP T-899 rig. The T-899 rig will also be electrified, allowing it to be connected to the grid with the aim to reduce annual emissions by 2,550 tonnes. The company also secured a contract for its 2,000 HP T-63 rig to drill two wells in the Kurdistan region in Iraq, while its 1,500 HP T-208 rig won a contract in Europe for 2023.
• Sonatrach has launched a tender for the supply of 18 drilling rigs in Algeria. The tender includes four 2,000 HP and 14 1,500 HP units. Signatures for the contracts are expected to be signed in 3Q 2023.

Todd Jensen
Analyst, Onshore Energy Services
tjensen@westwoodenergy.com