ABU DHABI: Turnwell, ADNOC Drilling’s new joint venture has started operations, drilling its first well in Abu Dhabi’s Al Dhafra region, to unlock Abu Dhabi’s world-class unconventional energy resources. marking a major milestone for Abu Dhabi’s energy industry.
Through Turnwell, ADNOC Drilling is creating a new energy value stream for ADNOC, in support of its goal to continue meeting the world’s growing demand for energy.
Abu Dhabi’s unconventional resources are estimated at 220 billion barrels of unconventional oil and 460 trillion cubic feet of unconventional gas in place. The gas resources alone are approximately equivalent to 180 years of the UAE’s annual gas consumption. ‘Unconventionals’ is an industry term which refers to oil and gas that is trapped in underground reservoirs and requires additional technologies to be extracted.
Abdulmunim Al Kindy, ADNOC Upstream Executive Director and ADNOC Drilling Board Deputy Chairman, said, ‘Turnwell marks a new era in Abu Dhabi’s energy industry as we establi
sh a UAE growth champion to unlock our nation’s world-class unconventional energy resources.
“The start of unconventional oil and gas development in Abu Dhabi unleashes a new sector of growth opportunities for our industry as we continue to responsibly and reliably meet the growing demand for energy from our customers globally.’
Turnwell was created through a strategic partnership between ADNOC Drilling, Schlumberger Middle East SA and Patterson-UTI International Holdings. The joint venture parties bring extensive experience, both in the region and further afield, and a proven track record of successfully delivering projects in unconventional energy via cutting-edge innovations in artificial intelligence-enabled (AI) smart drilling design, completions engineering and production solutions.
In May, Turnwell was awarded an initial AED6.24 billion contract by ADNOC to deliver the first 144 wells in a mega-campaign to unlock Abu Dhabi’s extensive unconventional energy resources, as Turnwell continues to gear up
to continue enabling the recovery of this vital energy resource in the Emirate for years ahead.
With so much wealth to be brought to the surface, Turnwell will need access to the most advanced drilling technologies here in the UAE and across the globe to efficiently, safely and responsibly unlock these resources. To do so, it will tap into ADNOC Drilling’s other new business – Enersol – an Oilfield Services tech-centric investment platform that is pursuing acquisitions in the energy technology space that can be applied, and scaled, here in the UAE.
With a clear focus on AI-enabled smart technologies, Enersol will support Turnwell to maximise operational efficiency, drive down costs and improve other key metrics, like well delivery times. Enersol’s focus on bringing the companies it acquires to Abu Dhabi supports local manufacturing and will provide Turnwell with the major benefit of a much-reduced supply chain.
ADNOC Drilling continues to be a major driver of the UAE’s prosperity as a key enabler of ADNOC’
s conventional and unconventional capacity growth. With Turnwell and ADNOC Drilling providing the demand for advanced tech-solutions, and Enersol delivering on the supply side, this emerging energy-tech ecosystem is expected to grow rapidly.
Source: Emirates News Agency
