Maersk oil Qatar, GDI sign $206m worth drilling contract

Maersk Oil Qatar signed Thursday a new contract for drilling activity with Gulf Drilling International (GDI) at a total value of 750 million Qatari Riyal (USD 206 million). The contract is a part of a bigger QR 1.5 billon-worth deal between the two companies, Qatari Minister of Energy and Industry Mohammad Al-Sada told reporters on the sidelines of the signing ceremony. The two companies have signed a similar agreement at value of QR770 million or USD211.4 million last February under which Maersk Oil Qatar will contract the Al Jassra, GDI's new-build jack-up drilling rig. The contract covered drilling and well work-over activity in the Al Shaheen field, Qatar's largest offshore oil field. Maersk Oil is an international oil and gas company with operated production of about 600,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. It produces oil and gas in Denmark, the UK, Qatar, Kazakhstan, Brazil and Algeria. Exploration activities are ongoing in Angola, Norway, the US Gulf of Mexico, Greenland and in the producing countries. Gulf Drilling International Ltd. GDI was established in 2004 as the first onshore and offshore oil and gas drilling company in Qatar. GDI was formed as a joint venture between Qatar Petroleum (QP 60 percent), Qatar's national oil corporation, and Japan Drilling Co., Ltd. (JDC 40 percent). The paid-up capital was USD 103.2 Million. GDI is a growth-oriented company. In just nine years (2004 to 2013), GDI's rig fleet has grown to twelve (12) rigs and its workforce from 100 to 1,080 employees