Today's Edition
SARA ALZAABI and A.SREENIVASA REDDY (ABU DHABI)
ADNOC Drilling has been at the top of its game ever since it was founded as the National Drilling Company in 1972 by Emiri Decree. Rebranded as ADNOC Drilling in 2017, it stands today as the sole provider of drilling and associated rig-related services to the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) Group. In recent years, it has undertaken significant initiatives to enhance its capabilities and solidify its leadership in the global energy sector.
In an exclusive interview with Aletihad, ADNOC Drilling’s Chief Financial Officer, Youssef Salem, shared the company’s future roadmap and reaffirmed confidence in achieving the guidance targets for 2025.
“We have a track record of meeting and exceeding our guidance for the last six quarters. For us, meeting and raising guidance is a constant part of our operations,” said Salem. “This is enabled by our long-term business plans where we have 15-year contracts. We are always on track to meet and exceed expectations regardless of market volatility.” The company has projected revenues between $4.6 and $4.8 billion for 2025, and Salem is confident of delivering on those expectations.
At the heart of ADNOC Drilling’s global expansion strategy is Enersol, a joint venture with Alpha Dhabi in which ADNOC Drilling holds a 51% stake. “This platform owns four subsidiaries, two based in the US, one in Europe and another in the Middle East, which operate in over 40 countries with more than 70 upstream clients,” Salem said.
Enersol represents a strategic step toward diversification beyond traditional oil services. “Its focus is not limited to oil sector,” Salem noted. “Enersol will straddle across the energy spectrum. It will serve new energies with new innovative solutions,” including geothermal. He emphasised the platform's autonomy, saying: “Enersol has the independence to expand its activities and maximise its growth potential.”
When asked about a potential IPO for Enersol, Salem replied: “Once the company attains its full potential, it will have all strategic options open to it.”
Salem highlighted the company’s operational footprint beyond UAE borders. “We have our operation in Jordan which has been going on for the last 18 months. We have some potential upcoming operations in Oman and Kuwait where we are pre-qualified,” he said. “These international operations bring us incremental growth. It enables us to deploy some of the latest technologies from all over the world to further increase our capabilities.”
Yet, the UAE remains the core pillar of ADNOC Drilling’s business. “It offers us stability and long-term growth and also comes with low risk.”
Reflecting on the company’s evolution, Salem said: “Until 2018, we were a pure domestic conventional driller. In 2019, we partnered with Baker Hughes and effectively launched our oil services business.”
This transformation has broadened the company’s energy portfolio. “We’re not making a product offering limited to oil, but rather it’s oil, it’s gas, it’s all types of new energy,” he said.
Further strengthening this transition is the launch of Turnwell, a joint venture with SLB and Patterson-UTI. “It allowed us to also get into unconventional energy resources,” Salem explained. The acquisition of Enersol expanded ADNOC Drilling’s business beyond its core area, bringing crucial technology assets under its wing. “Owning critical technologies spanning many areas of energy production could be crucial to future-proofing our business,” he added.
The company is gearing up to extract up to one billion cubic feet of gas from unconventional sources, mainly shale rocks, by 2030. “Some of these new areas such as unconventional energy require new technologies and solutions,” Salem said, noting that this segment will eventually contribute 10% of total energy revenues.
On the capital markets front, ADNOC Drilling’s free float has increased to 16.5%, leading to its inclusion in key MSCI indices. “Over 60% of our free float investors are international. They hail from all parts of the world including the US, Europe, China, Japan etc.,” Salem said. “Our weight in the FTSE index has also increased. We hope to see more international investors hold and trade our stock.”
ADNOC Drilling is now the world’s largest integrated drilling company listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX), supported by a highly diversified global supply chain. “We serve more than 70 different upstream clients,” Salem said, citing Enersol’s international footprint as an example.
He also addressed concerns over market volatility: “Long-term contracts and a progressive dividend scheme offer stability.” According to Salem, “ADNOC Drilling is the most covered stock in the UAE and is the most buy-recommended stock in the whole of the Middle East.”
Salem underscored the company’s central role in supporting national and global energy goals. “The UAE has the 5 million barrels per day target of oil capacity by 2027. All of these national energy targets, both for domestic consumption as well as for exports, are all enabled by ADNOC Drilling.”
Technology and innovation remain key enablers. “For us, AI is a very critical theme,” Salem noted. “We have completed four acquisitions last year in the technology space, totalling $750 million of consolidations.”
Looking ahead, ADNOC Drilling plans to scale its operations and fleet size even further. “We continue to increase our fleet size, going from 142 today to 151 by 2028,” Salem said.
