Saudi Aramco and Nabors Drilling are considering monetizing their 50:50 Sanad Drilling JV through an IPO. Speaking on the firm’s Q1 earnings call on 30 April, Nabors CEO Anthony Petrello, described an IPO as “the obvious path…we think Sanad is the most attractive company in the region.” He adds that for now plans remain embryonic. “Obviously we have some preparatory work to be done in the meantime. Both parties are looking at that as an option. It’s pretty clear that this is one path to realize value and create enormous shareholder value,” he says. Nabors last month valued its 50% stake in Sanad at around $1.4bn.
Sanad says that as of 11 March it had 50 rigs operating in Saudi Arabia. According to Mr Petrello, approximately 75% of its fleet works in natural gas after Aramco paused its plans to increase crude capacity by 1mn b/d, with a number of rigs being recently added to the unconventional gas market. (CONTINUED - 198 WORDS)