Arabian Drilling, a leading Saudi Arabian oil and gas drilling contractor, has announced that it had signed a SAR2 billion ($528 million) deal with Khafji Joint Operations (KJO) to provide four high-specification offshore jack-up drilling rigs.

KJO is a joint venture between Aramco Gulf Operations Company and Kuwait Gulf Oil Company that manages oil and gas exploration, drilling, and production in the offshore and onshore Divided Zone (formerly the Neutral Zone) between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

Headquartered in Al Khafji, Saudi Arabia, KJO manages resources across four primary offshore fields: Khafji, Hout, Lulu, and Dorra. 

The four-year contract, signed yesterday (September 28), is the largest single offshore drilling award KJO has made to Arabian Drilling, the company said in its filing to Saudi bourse Tadawul.

The rigs will support KJO’s offshore drilling operations and increase Arabian Drilling’s fleet operating under contracts with KJO by 200%, the company said.

The award will also lift Arabian Drilling’s total backlog to about SAR18 billion, it added.

On the financial impact, the Saudi group said it is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2026.-TradeArabia News Service