High Arctic Energy Services, an international leader in specialised underbalanced oilfield drilling (UBD) and production services, has opened a $3.5 million facility in Sharjah’s Hamriyah Free Zone.
The facility will primarily be utilised to design, develop and build combination drilling, workover and snubbing rigs.
“Our commitment to the GCC is evident from our investment activity in the region and is a product of our growing business interests. We made a strategic decision six years ago to locate our international headquarters in Dubai which has become our launching pad into the markets of Africa, the Central European States and Asia,” says Jed Wood, president and CEO of High Arctic.
“Hamriyah is a perfect solution for us to grow our business. We plan to double our existing facility by buying and setting up on an adjacent plot of land, and have already shipped our first RAPAD rig, worth $10 million(Dh37 million), to a client in Thailand.”
“Revenue from the GCC was expected to reach $24 million by year’s end, which accounts for 20 per cent of the company’s total global revenues of $120 million.
“Our forecasts project that 50 per cent of our global revenue could be generated from the GCC in 2009, and the growth markets include Oman, Yemen, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait in the GCC, Ukraine and Armenia in the CES and East Asia and Papua New Guinea in Australasia,” he says, adding, “With renowned expertise in underbalanced drilling, we have been able to service international oil and gas giants such as Aramco, BP, Shell and Nexon.”
Underbalanced drilling refers to the practice of intentionally drilling a well with borehole pressure less than the formation bore pressure, thus allowing formation fluid to more freely flow into the well bore while managing the hydrocarbons and associated pressures with surface support equipment.
Underbalanced drilling has become an increasingly important technology in the Canadian and international oil and natural gas sector especially in maturing production areas.
Benefits of underbalanced drilling methods include an increased speed of drilling, a reduction in fluid invasion into the production formation thus minimising damage, rapid indication of hydrocarbons during drilling, optimised production in existing well bores, reduction or elimination of stimulation costs like fracing, acid stimulation), reduction of overall project cost and maximization of ultimate hydrocarbon recovery.
High Arctic employs over 700 professionals and its head office is located in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada.
With 150 employees out of its international office in Dubai, the company maintains regional locations in Crimea, Ukraine, Yerevan, Armenia, Dammam, Muscat and Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
With revenues growing at an annual rate of 50 per cent since its inception in 1993, High Arctic listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange in July 2005, an IPO that raised $84 million. During the period between July 2005 and the second quarter of 2006, the company invested $85.3 million in new capital.
