National Drilling Company, NDC, inaugurated the latest addition to its fleet of offshore jack up drilling rigs. The "Al Gharbia" is the seventh in a series of nine state-of-the-art rigs purchased by NDC, a group company of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), from the UAE manufacturer Lamprell.

"NDC, in line with ADNOC’s growth strategy, is evolving into a more agile company that is focussed on improving operational efficiencies, optimising its assets and adopting the latest drilling rig technologies," said Abdalla Al Suwaidi, NDC’s Chief Executive Officer, during the inauguration ceremony held in Hamriyah Free Zone.

"NDC launched this strategic project to maintain highest levels of reliability and resilience, as well as to ensure that we provide high quality, cost-efficient and versatile drilling services to our clients, ADNOC Group companies, without compromising on the Health, Safety, and the Environment (HSE) standards and asset integrity." Al Suwaidi added.

"Our AED7 billion investment in these nine jack up rigs, and other land rigs, all of which have been built in the UAE, supports the UAE economy and is consistent with ADNOC’s role to remain a pillar of the UAE’s economy for decades to come," he said.

"Al Gharbia had been delivered as per high quality standard, on time and on budget. The construction of the rigs in the UAE is a remarkable demonstration of the skills and abilities that exist in the country," said Christopher McDonald, Chief Executive Officer of Lamprell.

"The successful delivery of these seven rigs, and the near-completion of the remaining two rigs, would not have been possible without close teamwork and the strong relationship between Lamprell and NDC. We look forward to further successful ventures together with them in the future." McDonald said.