Arabian Drilling Wins $532M KJO Contract For Four Jack-Up Rigs
The four-year award is Khafji Joint Operations' largest single offshore drilling contract with Arabian Drilling and lifts the company's backlog to about $4.8 billion.
Tariq Benali Tariq Benali covers business and corporate news across the UAE and MENA for Anecdoted, tracking the deals, leadership moves and regulatory shifts behind the region's companies. tariq@anecdoted.com
Arabian Drilling has signed a four-year contract valued at $532.5 million (SAR 2 billion) to supply Khafji Joint Operations with four high-specification offshore jack-up drilling rigs. The rigs will be assigned to KJO's offshore drilling program.
The award is the largest single offshore drilling contract KJO has placed with Arabian Drilling. It also increases by 200% the number of Arabian Drilling rigs working for the joint venture, so the company's contracted fleet serving KJO will be three times its current size.
What the deal covers
- Four high-specification offshore jack-up drilling rigs
- A four-year contract term
- A contract value of $532.5 million, or SAR 2 billion
- The largest single offshore drilling award KJO has made to Arabian Drilling
- A 200% increase in the number of Arabian Drilling rigs serving KJO
Jack-up rigs are self-elevating platforms that raise their hull above the water on legs resting on the seabed, a design built for the relatively shallow waters where KJO's fields sit.
The customer
Khafji Joint Operations is a joint venture between Aramco Gulf Operations Company and Kuwait Gulf Oil Company. It carries out oil and gas exploration, drilling and production across the offshore and onshore Divided Zone between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, a territory once known as the Neutral Zone. Four main offshore fields fall under its operations: Khafji, Hout, Lulu and Dorra.
Because the zone is shared between two states, KJO's contracting activity tends to move in large blocks of rig capacity rather than single-unit hires. This award fits that pattern.
Backlog
Contract backlog measures the value of signed work a company has not yet delivered. The KJO award pushes Arabian Drilling's total backlog to approximately $4.8 billion (SAR 18 billion).
Land drilling has added to that figure as well. In August and September the company signed contracts with SLB covering 19 land rigs under the Gas LSTK program. Together those agreements added about $1.3 billion (SAR 5 billion) to the backlog, according to filings on Tadawul.
The company
Founded in 1964 in Saudi Arabia, Arabian Drilling operates one of the largest onshore and offshore drilling fleets in the Middle East. Industrialization & Energy Services Company (TAQA) and SLB hold the majority of the business. Saudi Aramco, Baker Hughes and SLB are among its key clients.
As of September 29, 2026, its market capitalization stood at $2.2 billion (SAR 8.43 billion), according to data published on the Saudi Exchange's website.
