Industry

The acquisition will strongly boost H&P's Middle East presence. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

Drilling contractor Helmerich & Payne (H&P) is to acquire global drilling company KCA Deutag, significantly boosting its Middle East presence

The acquisition will accelerate H&P’s international growth strategy, providing immediate and significant exposure to land operations in key markets in the Middle East, which generated around 70% of KCA Deutag’s calendar year 2023 operating EBITDA. Through the transaction, H&P will increase its Middle East rig count from 12 to 88 rigs, 71 of which are in Saudi Arabia, Oman and Kuwait. Based on award activity to date, the pro forma company would be one of the larger rig providers in the Middle East.

With KCA Deutag, H&P will have a strong geographic and operational mix across the U.S. and international crude oil and natural gas markets, and diversified geographical exposure in earnings and cash flow streams.
The acquisition will also strengthen cash flow and durability, given that the Middle East rig market is expected to grow in the coming years; generate attractive returns; and provide an opportunity to realise synergies, the company says.

Accelerating international expansion

President and CEO of H&P, John Lindsay, commented, 'This is a historic and transformative transaction for the company, and we are excited about what this means for H&P’s future, as it accelerates our international expansion particularly in the Middle East and enhances the company’s global leadership in onshore drilling solutions. KCA Deutag’s assets and operations will add resilient revenues, providing greater earnings visibility and cash flow generation. As a result, we expect to generate sizeable incremental cash flows and are confident this transaction will deliver near- and long-term growth and value creation for H&P shareholders.

“Our experience in the industry combined with a Middle East market poised for continued growth should be indicative of the importance and the compelling reasons for executing on this acquisition at this time. Acquiring KCA Deutag gives H&P immediate scale in core Middle East markets in a way that would be challenging to replicate organically.”

CEO of KCA Deutag, Joseph Elkhoury, added, “We look forward to joining H&P, combining the strengths of our people together with our geographical footprint, to create an organisation with an unrivalled global network, service capability and technology offering. The size, scale and financial strength of the combined organisation will provide a stable foundation for long-term growth and diversification to safeguard a sustainable and prosperous future for our people.”

The global energy supply chain is facing challenges.(Image source: Adobe Stock)

The UK-based Energy Industries Council (EIC) has released its eighth annual Survive and Thrive report, which finds that ongoing geographic and policy uncertainties are posing challenges for the global energy supply chain

The report notes that only 7% of companies are venturing into new markets, high costs and insufficient government support being major deterrents. Clear policies and trade agreements are essential for making new market entries more feasible, according to the views of supply chain businesses shared in the report. Another obstacle is payment delays, which create severe cash flow issues, hindering investment in new technologies and expansion efforts, the report finds.

Developing client-facing services and solutions has emerged as the most popular growth strategy this year, with 82% of supply chain companies now working directly with operators, increasingly sidestepping the traditional model of contracting via tier 1 EPC contractors. This shift allows companies to forge deeper relationships with end-user clients and increases the chances of having their technology pre-specified.

Shift to uncertainty

“2024 sees a shift from boom times to an environment filled with uncertainty, as companies grapple with increased policy and geopolitical challenges,” Stuart Broadley, CEO of the EIC, commented.

“While opportunities abound, the lack of clarity on financial incentives and regulations makes navigating these waters increasingly complex. While activity across the energy supply chain remains high, companies are facing significant hurdles due to policy uncertainties.

“Government support, with fewer exclusions around oil and gas, is crucial for companies to navigate new territories, many of which have important hydrocarbons activities that are also in transition. Our members are asking for more engagement from trade missions and embassies to provide necessary market access and early clarity on new market challenges such as local content needs.”

“Clear and consistent policies, financial incentives, and an understanding of the entire and largely integrated supply chain's needs are crucial. Policymakers should de-silo energy policy, ensure an overarching target with contributions from all stakeholders, and recognise the impact of increased taxes on operators. Upgrading capabilities to meet net-zero demands, reassessing local content regulations, and providing a clear roadmap for energy projects are essential steps to support and nurture the energy supply chain.”

STRYDE has won 11 new contracts. (Image source: STRYDE)

STRYDE, which specialises in onshore seismic data, has won 11 new contracts since July 2023, in countries including Saudi Arabia

Under the contracts, STRYDE has provided both its conventional, and in-field processing services for 2D and 3D seismic surveys from countries across the globe, in sectors including geothermal, CCUS, oil and gas, mining and water exploration, with STRYDE Lens, the company’s in-field processing solution, selected for four of the 11 processing projects.

Amine Ourabah, chief geophysicist at STRYDE, said, “The recent surge in STRYDE Lens processing contracts is testament to our ability to deliver rapid, high-quality seismic, enabled by our team of highly skilled land processing geophysicists and our unique ability to transform our state-of-the-art acquisition system into a processing environment that our team can access remotely.

“This powerful combination enables us to deliver an interpretable seismic image very quickly after survey completion. For our customers, this means they can make informed decisions much earlier in the process than would be possible with conventional methods.”

Mike Popham, STRYDE CEO added that the company is investing further in its Centre for High-Performance Computing (CHPC) at its Asker facility in Norway.

“This new CHPC empowers our team to efficiently process, manage and store large volumes of data from both conventional and high-density seismic surveys and provides us with an effective platform for our processing team to conduct research and development activities to further optimise our solutions for our customers,” he said.

SLB continues to benefit from elevated activity in the Middle East & Asia, particularly in gas. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

SLB has recorded a strong performance in the Middle East & Asia in its second quarter results, with year-on-year revenue from the region increasing by 24%, compared with the 13% growth in total revenue

Revenue in the Middle East & Asia of US$3.27bn increased 6% sequentially due to increased sales of production systems and increased intervention and evaluation activity in Saudi Arabia. Higher digital revenue across the area and increased drilling in Iraq, United Arab Emirates, China, and East Asia also contributed to the sequential growth. The year on year 24% increase in revenue was due to higher drilling, intervention, and evaluation activity as well as increased sales of production systems in Saudi Arabia. Higher drilling in United Arab Emirates, Egypt, East Asia, Indonesia, and China, as well as the acquired Aker subsea business in Australia, also contributed to the year-on-year growth.

The company’s total revenue of US$9.14bn increased 5% sequentially and 13% year on year, with digital & integration and reservoir performance divisions both seeing 11% year-on-year growth, well construction 1% year-on-year growth, and production systems 31% year-on-year growth.

SLB CEO Olivier Le Peuch commented, “We achieved solid second-quarter results, with broad-based international revenue growth and margin expansion across all divisions. Our Core business continued to build on its positive momentum and our digital business accelerated, resulting in our highest quarterly international revenue since 2014. These results demonstrate SLB’s strong position in key, resilient markets, as we continue to benefit from elevated activity in the Middle East & Asia, particularly in gas, and our clients’ increased investments in deepwater basins, exploration, and digital.

“Sequentially, revenue grew 5%, led by the Middle East & Asia, which increased 6%. The increase in this area was driven by capacity expansions, gas development projects, and production and recovery, with a majority of GeoUnits in the area achieving record revenue. We also continued to benefit from our enhanced offshore exposure, particularly in deepwater basins across Latin America, Europe & Africa, and in the US Gulf of Mexico.”

Middle East contracts

In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Saudi Aramco awarded SLB a long-term contract for unconventional gas directional drilling services and drilling bits, in support of Aramco’s strategic goal to increase gas production by more than 60% by 2030, compared to 2021 levels. SLB will provide innovative fit-for-basin technologies, services, and best-in-class practices developed in collaboration with Aramco.

In Qatar, a customer awarded SLB a five-year contract for directional drilling, measurement-while-drilling, and logging-while-drilling services. The contract will extend the deployment of the GeoSphere HD high-definition reservoir mapping-while-drilling service and the GeoSphere 360 3D reservoir mapping-while-drilling service for proactive steering, waterfront identification, and acquisition of valuable information for subsurface modelling.

In the decarbonisation space, SLB and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) Onshore successfully deployed the EcoShield low-carbon geopolymer cement-free system, paving the way to decarbonise cementing operations. This operation achieved an estimated 85% reduction in CO2 emissions compared with conventional conductor casing cement. ADNOC and SLB are looking to expand technology application in surface casing jobs and beyond.

In Oman, ARA Petroleum Exploration and Production (ARA), part of the wider Zubair Corporation, awarded SLB a five-year contract to enhance ARA's reservoir engineering capabilities. Advanced wellbore imaging in the Techlog wellbore software will increase subsurface understanding, Petrel subsurface software machine learning will improve modelling, and Intersect high-resolution reservoir simulator will deliver precise forecasting.