Drilling activity in Saudi Arabia may drop by about 20 per cent this year, as the world’s biggest oil exporter slows major oilfield development following a surge of activity in the past three years.
But so far there is no evidence of a similar trend in the UAE, where there has been no recent push to develop oilfields, and the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has scheduled several big projects.
“It’s no surprise that the Saudis had a huge surge in drilling activity that is now falling off,” said Raja Kiwan, a Dubai-based analyst with PFC Energy. “The Saudis will be completing a capacity expansion to 12.5 million barrels per day this year.”
The latest industry data show Saudi rig activity down 5 per cent in January from a year earlier, including a 10 per cent drop in onshore drilling, which accounts for about 80 per cent of all oil and gas drilling in the nation. Overall, 97 rigs were active, down from 102 the previous January, according to the international oilfield services companies that compiled the data. But in the UAE, January drilling activity was up 27 per cent, with the number of active rigs increasing to 33 from 26. Some of the extra rigs may have been contracted as long as six months ago, when oil prices were peaking.
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