Ades announces major rig expansion plan

The Egyptian firm, while benefiting from the country's own upstream boom, is moving into new markets

In its H1 results announcement, Egypt-based oil and gas service company Advanced Energy Systems (Ades) has highlighted plans for a major expansion in the number of rigs it will be able to offer to upstream operators. The company's business model is to buy up and refurbish legacy rigs before leasing them at a low cost to oil and gas operators. Mohamed Farouk, Ades' chief executive, in a statement accompanying the half-year results, said that in June the company finalised the acquisition of three ultra-shallow offshore jack-up rigs from subsidiaries of Nabor. The rigs are at present contracted to Saudi Aramco. Then in July, Farouk added: "we significantly expanded our onshore capabilities by