<article><p class="lead">Abu Dhabi's state-owned Adnoc has awarded a host of oil service companies $1.94bn worth of framework deals to increase drilling activities. </p><p>The largest share of the awards has gone to Adnoc's own oil service unit Adnoc Drilling, with the remainder going to US companies Schlumberger, Halliburton and Weatherford. The agreements — which Adnoc says are "the largest of its kind" — cover wireline logging and perforation services at Adnoc's onshore and offshore fields and will run for five years, with the option for a two-year extension. Wireline logging involves continuously measuring the properties of rock formations to guide drilling operations, while perforation creates tunnels in the wellbore to allow fluid to flow in from the reservoir.</p><p>"The framework agreements are a continuation of Adnoc's unprecedented investment in services to enable the expansion of drilling activity required to responsibly unlock the UAE's leading low-cost and low-carbon intensity oil as well as the nation's gas resources," Adnoc chief executive Sultan al-Jaber said.</p><p>The awards build on Adnoc's recent investments in drilling-related equipment and services in support of its strategy to boost crude production capacity to 5mn b/d by 2030 from just over 4mn b/d now, and drive gas self-sufficiency for the UAE. To reach these goals, Adnoc says around 700 wells need to be drilled each year.</p><p>In December Adnoc awarded a <a href="https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2281542">$3.8bn contract for onshore drilling, workover and well services</a> to Adnoc Drilling. It also signed a 10-year deal worth more than $1bn with France's TechnipFMC for wellheads, trees and services.</p><p class="bylines">By Ieva Paldaviciute</p></article>
