ADES acquires 31 onshore drilling rigs from Weatherford

July 12, 2018
ADES International Holding Ltd., which provides oil and gas drilling and production services in the Middle East and Africa, announced plans to acquire 31 onshore drilling rigs from Weatherford International PLC for $287.5 million.

ADES International Holding Ltd., which provides oil and gas drilling and production services in the Middle East and Africa, announced plans to acquire 31 onshore drilling rigs from Weatherford International PLC for $287.5 million.

Terms call for ADES to acquire Weatherford’s onshore drilling operations, including associated assets, contracts, management systems and 2,300 employees and contract personnel spread across Algeria, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

ADES is acquiring 12 rigs in Kuwait, 11 rigs in Saudi Arabia, 6 rigs in Algeria, and 2 rigs in southern Iraq. Twenty of the 31 rigs currently are operational. The other 11, including 2 idle rigs in Iraq, will help ADES grow its operations in the Middle East and Africa.

Barclays analyst J. David Anderson of New York issued a research note saying Weatherford had been trying to sell its land rig business for 4 years. Weatherford still has 79 land rigs scattered across 12 countries.