Saudi-listed ADES Holding Company said it has received a direct award of contract (DAC) from Suez Oil Company (SUCO) in Egypt for three jackup drilling rigs in the Gulf of Suez, which is expected to commence in the coming weeks.

The value of the 21-month contract is 161 million Saudi riyals ($42.93 million), the company said in a statement to the Saudi stock exchange on Sunday.

The new award follows the group’s recent contracts in Qatar and Thailand, slated to commence operations in the second half of 2024.

These awards bring the total redeployments of the recently suspended rigs in Saudi Arabia to three out of five jack-ups.

“The speed at which the redeployments will occur, just weeks post their temporary suspension, demonstrates agility and strength of our global platform and our competitive position with a highly marketable and demanded fleet of jackup rigs during very tight market conditions,” said Mohamed Farouk, CEO of ADES Holding.

ADES said last month that it mutually agreed with its client in Saudi Arabia to temporarily suspend the operations on five of its 33 offshore jack-up rigs in the Kingdom for up to 12 months.

The company has a fleet of 87 rigs across nine countries, including 38 onshore drilling rigs, 46 jackup offshore drilling rigs, two jackup barges, and one mobile offshore production unit.