Abdullah Saeed al-Suwaidi
,CEO,National Drilling Company (UAE)
Abu Dhabi has targeted crude production of 3.5 million barrels a day by 2018. It is now up to operators such as National Drilling Company, headed up by Abdullah Saeed al-Suwaidi, to make that ambitious production boost a reality.
Established in 1972 by ministerial decree, Abu Dhabi’s National Drilling Company (NDC) is considered to be one of the largest drilling contractors in the Middle East, providing drilling, work-over and well maintenance services.
With nearly 100 billion barrels of oil in reserves, the UAE can rest assured that it will have access to a secure energy source for the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, the development of hydrocarbon resources is an ongoing necessity.
The UAE is targeting an oil production boost of 800 000 bpd by 2018, so the gauntlet has been thrown down for all companies involved in exploration and production in the country’s rich onshore and offshore fields.
The company is seeing a growing onshore rig presence, it recently awarded Honghua Group a $300 million contract to provide seven 9000-metre 3,000 horsepower cluster land drilling rig units.
NDC has also recently commissioned Drydocks World to converte and upgrade the Beynouna Jack-up drilling platform in Dubai this year.
