Muscat – Abraj Energy Services, Oman’s leading oilfield services provider which opened its initial public offering (IPO) on February 20, has signed a strategic partnership deal with Saudi Arabian Chevron and Kuwait Gulf Oil Company in the field of drilling and oil extraction to expand its regional presence.

Abraj said its strategic partnership with Saudi Arabian Chevron and Kuwait Gulf Oil Company is aimed at enhancing opportunities between the two parties through drilling and oil extraction for a period of five years.

Global oil giant Chevron is a major player in Saudi Arabia’s energy market having a continuous upstream presence in the kingdom for more than seven decades. Kuwait Gulf Oil Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation for upstream oil and gas operations, represents the interest of the State of Kuwait in the Partitioned Zone (PZ) which lies alongside the border between Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

The partnership agreement will see Abraj build three drilling platforms and provide other related services for the Wafra oil field project located within the onshore Partitioned Neutral Zone (PZ) in the southern part of Kuwait, Abraj said in a press statement on Saturday.

‘This agreement leverages Abraj’s competitive advantage of being a leading service provider in Oman with a depth of experience and expertise. The collaboration envisages an opportunity to expand its portfolio of services, exchange experiences and adopt best practices in the field of drilling, sustainability and technology in the sector,’ Abraj said.

Commenting on the importance of this partnership, Saif al Hamhami, Abraj Energy Services CEO, said, “We are pleased to announce our strategic partnership with Saudi Arabian Chevron and Kuwait Gulf Oil Company, emphasising our commitment to expand our footprint in the Middle East and North Africa.”

Hamhami noted that Abraj is “pre-qualified to provide various services in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Algeria, where the company’s advanced rigging fleet is linked to long-term contracts with leading national and international oil companies”.

“Abraj is uniquely poised for this opportunity as it owns the most modern and advanced drilling fleets in the Middle East and North Africa region. Consisting of 25 drilling rigs and five well maintenance rigs that operate with the latest technology, it offers a competitive advantage to its clients particularly in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Algeria,” he added.

In line with its growth strategy, Abraj recently announced its IPO and plans for listing on the Muscat Stock Exchange. The Abraj IPO is part of Oman Investment Authority’s (OIA) divestment plan to exit some government investments to provide opportunities for Omani and foreign investors to achieve the objectives of Oman Vision 2040.

Abraj is an indirectly wholly-owned subsidiary of Oman’s global integrated energy group OQ. OQ (the selling shareholder) has offered up to 377,398,000 shares, equivalent to 49 per cent of the total issued share capital of Abraj, in the IPO.

The IPO is offered in a parallel offering for Category I (large and institutional investors) and Category II (retail investors). The subscription for Category I runs from February 20 until March 2, 2023, whereas the subscription for the Category II runs from February 20 until March 1, 2023.

The Category I subscription price range for the offering has been set at between 242bz and 249bz per share. The Category II subscription price is the discounted maximum price of 224bz per share, calculated as the maximum price of 249bz per share less a discount of 10 per cent.

OQ has brought in Saudi Omani Investment Company and global energy services giant Schlumberger as anchor investors for the Abraj IPO. In aggregate, the anchor investors have committed RO37.58mn to the IPO, representing 40 per cent of the offer size.

Abraj’s initial public offering is the biggest IPO in Oman since 2010, when Nawras (Omani Qatari Telecommunications Company) – now known as Ooredoo Oman – raised around RO182mn via a book-building process IPO.

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