GCC market covers United Arab Emirates, Kingdom of Saudi Arab, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain. 

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The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region currently hosts a fleet of 1,159 identified land drilling rigs. With 526 units (45% of the MENA fleet), it is the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) that leads supply, while North Africa and Other Middle East contain 27% and 28% respectively.

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Westwood has released the MENA Onshore Drilling Rig Market Forecast, the first in a series of new regional land rig reports available to subscribers of Global Land Rigs or as a standalone purchase. We have shared some salient points from the first edition, which predicts 25% healthy demand growth for land rigs in the Middle East GCC region over the 2023-2027 forecast period, as Saudi Arabia and the UAE pump billions into reaching production capacity targets.

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Demand growth driven by Saudi Arabia and UAE

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region currently hosts a fleet of 1,159 identified land drilling rigs. With 526 units (45% of the MENA fleet), it is the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) that leads supply, while North Africa and Other Middle East contain 27% and 28% respectively. The largest fleets are hosted by Saudi Arabia, Algeria and Kuwait, while Iraq and Iran also host fleets of over 100 units.

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Contractors operating in MENA vary from small indigenous contractors to NOC powerhouses. Two of the key markets for high HP units, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, are dominated by their respective NOCs – Saudi Aramco through its JV with Nabors, SANAD, and ADNOC via its subsidiary ADNOC Drilling. Despite this, the region hosts many international contractors with Sinopec hosting the largest fleet of the international players with 80 land drilling rigs, 44 of which are located in Kuwait. KCA Deutag has also substantially improved its position within the MENA market with the acquisition of Saipem’s onshore drilling fleet, taking its MENA fleet from 45 to 77 units.