Saudi oil and gas driller ADES has added roughly 270 million dollars to its firm backlog after closing two offshore rig deals this week. One is a new jackup contract in Nigeria with Belop, and the other is a multi year extension on a North Sea rig with Canadian producer Tenaz Energy.
Belop, an exploration and production firm headquartered in Lagos, will deploy the Main Pass IV, a jackup built in 1982, on a one year firm contract with an option for a second year. The firm portion is worth about SAR 180.7 million, or roughly 48.2 million dollars, and operations are scheduled to begin in the third quarter of 2026 once the rig wraps up its current campaign.
The bigger ticket item is the extension on the Shelf Drilling Winner, a 2014 built jackup working in the Dutch sector of the North Sea. Tenaz Energy converted what was a one year firm term into a three year firm commitment while keeping the same optional extension windows. The full potential contract value now reaches roughly SAR 832 million, or about 222 million dollars.
The two awards land in an offshore rig market that has stayed unusually tight through 2026, with day rates for premium jackups holding firm and few uncommitted assets available before 2027. ADES pointed to what it called a scarcity of capable units, language that has become common across recent offshore earnings calls.
For ADES the wins extend visibility on two of its older but still in demand rigs. For the wider sector they signal that operators in both West Africa and the North Sea remain willing to lock in multi year commitments at current rates rather than wait for a softer market.