ADES Holding Company is an oil and gas drilling contractor headquartered in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia, and listed on the main market of the Saudi Exchange (Tadawul). It operates jack-up rigs offshore and land rigs onshore, mainly under long-term contracts with national oil companies, and it has grown from a regional driller concentrated in North Africa into one of the largest shallow-water contractors in the Middle East and beyond.
From North Africa to a Tadawul listing
When ADES marketed its initial public offering it described a fleet of 85 rigs working in seven countries, total backlog of SAR 27.6 billion as of 30 June 2023, effective utilisation of 98% for 2022, revenue from contracts with customers of SAR 1.98 billion in the first half of 2023 against SAR 2.5 billion for the whole of 2022, an EBITDA margin of 47.0% in that half year and a total recordable injury rate of 0.10 per 200,000 working hours in 2022. The offering covered 30% of the share capital, or 338,718,754 shares, split between 101,615,626 existing shares and 237,103,128 new shares, all initially allocated to institutional investors with up to 10% clawed back for retail. Ayman Abbas was chairman and Dr. Mohamed Farouk chief executive at the time of the IPO, and Farouk was still named as chief executive in the company's first-half 2026 results release.
Fleet and geographic reach at mid-2026
At 30 June 2026 ADES reported 123 drilling units deployed across twenty countries: 40 onshore rigs, 81 jack-up rigs, one jack-up barge and one mobile offshore production unit, supported by more than 11,500 employees. The corporate fleet pages, which present an earlier snapshot, describe 50 offshore assets spread over thirteen countries and name the clients for individual rigs. Saudi Aramco contracts most of the Admarine fleet in Saudi Arabia, including Admarine 686, 694, 695, 680 and 692; ONGC holds Admarine 9, 10 and 11 in India; TotalEnergies contracts Admarine 691 in Qatar; CPOC works with Topaz Driller in Malaysia and MedcoEnergi with Soehanah Driller in Indonesia; Brittania-U has Admarine 504 in Nigeria; and Egypt accounts for several units, among them the Admarine I mobile offshore production unit for Petrozenima, the Admarine VIII jack-up for Neptune and two barges for GPC. Rigs in that listing range from LeTourneau 82-SD-C and BMC 300-IC units rated to about 250-320 feet of water to KFELS B and Super B, Baker Marine Pacific 375 and 400, and Friede & Goldman JU2000E designs rated to 350-400 feet.
Contracting position in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia remains the group's core market. ADES states that it has 33 jack-up rigs contracted in the Kingdom, all added since 2016, giving it roughly a 38% share of that market as of the end of 2023, and that it is the largest jack-up operator for Saudi Aramco. It renewed long-term contracts with Saudi Aramco in April and May 2025. The company has also flagged the effect of the regional conflict on operations: its first-half 2026 release refers to temporary suspensions of rigs, while the full-year 2025 release described suspended rigs in Saudi Arabia returning to service as utilisation recovered.
Financial performance
For the year ended 31 December 2025, announced on 30 March 2026, group revenue rose 7.9% to SAR 6,689.0 million, EBITDA grew 17.0%, net profit reached SAR 832.9 million at a 12.5% margin, utilisation was 97.9% and the total recordable injury rate stood at 0.08 per 200,000 working hours. Backlog set a record at SAR 34.71 billion and the board declared a second-half 2025 dividend of SAR 265 million. In the six months to 30 June 2026 revenue increased 49% year on year to SAR 4,544.1 million, which the company attributed to the Shelf Drilling acquisition and stronger offshore activity; EBITDA was SAR 2,164.0 million at a 47.6% margin, down from 54.9% a year earlier because the acquired Shelf Drilling rigs earn lower margins, and net profit slipped 3.7% to SAR 374 million. Backlog was SAR 34.67 billion with a weighted average remaining contract tenor of 4.54 years, and fleet utilisation was 97.6%.
Acquisitions that reshaped the group
ADES has expanded mainly by buying rigs and competitors in markets where dayrates are supported by long-term national oil company programmes. The largest step was Shelf Drilling, whose shareholders approved the cash merger in October 2025 and which completed on 25 November 2025, folding 35 jack-ups and their contract book into the group and ending Shelf Drilling's Oslo listing. On 15 September 2026 ADES completed the purchase of Saudi Arabian Saipem Limited from Saipem for about USD 285 million after signing a definitive agreement in June 2026; the transaction added five operational premium jack-ups, three owned and two leased, with associated backlog of approximately SAR 3.8 billion at signing, four of the rigs operating in Saudi Arabia and one elsewhere. In the first half of 2026 the group also booked multi-year contracts for three premium jack-up rigs with WAEP in Nigeria, an extension for Shelf Drilling Scepter with Chevron in Nigeria, a multi-year award for Shelf Drilling Enterprise in Thailand and an extension for Shelf Drilling Winner in the Netherlands, followed after the period by a two-year firm contract for Shelf Drilling Odyssey with Seplat in Nigeria and a UK North Sea contract for Shelf Drilling Fortress potentially worth about SAR 483 million.
Safety, organisation and contact
ADES publishes a QHSSE and sustainability section, an ESG area for investors, quarterly and annual reports, an IPO microsite and a financial calendar, and it runs an in-house maintenance and technical organisation that it credits with keeping acquired rigs working. General commercial enquiries are handled at [email protected], recruitment at [email protected] and compliance matters at [email protected].