Hello, everyone, thank you for joining us today for the ADNOC Drilling first quarter 2026 earnings webcast and conference call. My name is Sammy, and I'll be coordinating your call today. During the presentation, you can register a question by pressing Star followed by one on your telephone keypad. If you change your mind, please press Star followed by two on your telephone keypad to remove yourself from the question queue. I'll now hand over to your host, Massimiliano Cominelli, Vice President of Investor Relations at ADNOC Drilling, to begin. Please go ahead.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to ADNOC Drilling's first quarter 2026 earnings webcast and conference call. My name is Massimiliano Cominelli, and I'm the Vice President on Investor Relations at ADNOC Drilling. Before handing the floor over to our speakers, I would like to draw your attention to the disclaimer on the second slide. I encourage you to read it carefully. The text contains important information. We advise caution on the interpretation and limits of historical data and forward-looking statements. I would like to remind you that this presentation and the recording of this call will be available on our website shortly after the end of the call.
Today's presentation will be led by our Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Abdulla Messabi, our Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Youssef Salem, along with Sultan Al Mansoori, our Senior Vice President for Onshore, Adel Al Marzooqi, our Senior Vice President for Offshore, and Emri Zeineldin, our Senior Vice President for Oil Field Services. After the presentation, we will have a Q&A session where we will be happy to answer your questions. I will now hand over the call to our Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Abdulla. Please go ahead.
Thank you, Max. Good afternoon, thank you for being with us today. Before anything else, I really want to start with thank you to our people for their discipline, commitment, and care to the company, which really made this performance possible. Together, we delivered our best ever first quarter, supported by our strength of our long-term contracted model. Operationally, our teams delivered 98% rig availability, drilled 191 wells this quarter. We also reduced the non-productive time by 62% versus our plan, thanks to strong planning and disciplined execution. Financially, we delivered revenue of AED 1.23 billion, EBITDA around AED 530 million, net profit around AED 350 million, driven by high fleet utilization, resilient execution, and growth across the integrated drilling and oil field services. We are pleased to share that value with our shareholders.
In line with our dividend policy, we are distributing $262.5 million for Q1, reflecting our commitment to attractive progressive returns. We also closed our second regional transaction with the acquisition of 80% of MBPS. It brings strong capability and 22 rigs to our fleet, taking our regional fleet to 30 rigs. Our focus remains clear: delivering profitable growth, maintaining disciplined capital allocation while returning cash to shareholders consistently through the long-term contracts and well-defined growth initiatives. We are well-positioned with our people, our technology, and ADNOC behind us. Our line of sight is clear, and we see strong opportunity set to keep creating long-term value for UAE and our shareholders. I will close by saying this: the UAE continues to lead resilience and ambition, and we are proud and grateful to support that journey, delivering what matter most.
In quarter one, we stayed focused, we worked safely, looking after each other, and we delivered consistently without disruption. That discipline will not shift. With that, I will hand over to our Chief Financial Officer, Youssef, to walk you through the details. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Abdulla, and a good day to all. We delivered our best ever Q1 results, driven by high utilization, integrated services, and contracted growth. As highlighted by our Chief Executive Officer, this quarter was a true test to the resilience of our business model as we navigated evolving market conditions. For the first quarter of 2026, revenue increased 5% year-on-year to $1.228 billion. This was driven by increased activity in our oilfield services and offshore segments, partially offset by the anticipated repurposing of certain onshore rigs. EBITDA was $527 million, while net profit increased 2% year-on-year at $347 million for the quarter. The full quarterly impact from the repurposing of the onshore rigs in Q1 was approximately $40 million in revenue and around $26 million in EBITDA.
As anticipated in Q4 2025 disclosure, revenue, EBITDA, and net profits change was lower sequentially in Q1 due to fewer calendar days and the full impact of the onshore rigs repurposing. Net profit sequentially was also influenced by a positive one-off effect of roughly $20 million in Q4 2025, attributable to the full-year impact of revised estimates for assets useful lives and residual values. The unconventional business contributed $131 million to revenue in Q1 2026. As disclosed previously, given the strong acceleration in 2025, higher than anticipated, we expect a lower phasing in full year 2026.
The lower phasing of unconventional full year 2026, particularly from the second quarter onward, is expected to be largely offset by revenue from additional OFS services, leading to an expected combined contribution of approximately $0.5 billion from unconventional and additional services, resulting in no impact on the full year 2026 revenue guidance of $5 billion or OFS total guidance of $1.5 billion. Moving on to cash flows. The business continues its strong performance, generating free cash flows of $356 million at 12% year-on-year increase. Finally, the balance sheet remains very strong. Net debt at the end of the quarter stood at $1.7 billion, equivalent to 0.8x EBITDA, below our leverage ceiling and providing significant flexibility to support growth, strategic investment, and shareholder returns.
I will now hand over to Sultan to walk you through onshore operations.
Thank you, Youssef, and good afternoon, everyone. It's a pleasure to be here again with you to present the performance of the first three months. During the quarter, the onshore segment demonstrate a high level of resilience, underpinned by a robust operation frameworks that our team know well and trust. Those frameworks enable us to maintain operational continuity and performance throughout the period. Revenue for the quarter reached to AED 477 million, reflecting the positive contribution from the eight land rigs operating in Oman and Kuwait, following establishment of our joint venture with SLB. This was partially offset by the anticipated full impact of onshore rig repurposing and the conversion of two onshore rigs to offshore in the second half of 2025. On a sequential base, revenue was also impacted by a fewer calendar days and lower rig move activity during the quarter.
EBITDA amounted to AED 220 million, with a margin of 46%, successfully observing the impact of the rig repurposing and the onshore to offshore conversion. This performance reflects our continued focus on disciplined cost management and operational efficiency. Turning to operations, the onshore segment drilled a total of 160 wells during the quarter, with an overall rig availability of 99%, underscoring the strong reliability and performance of our fleet. On a pro forma basis, the onshore fleet stood at 122 rigs at the end of the first quarter, comprising of 92 rigs in Abu Dhabi and 30 rigs across the region, following the recently announced transaction. With that, I will now hand over to Adel to cover offshore operations.
Thank you, Sultan, good afternoon, everyone. It is great to be here with you again this quarter. In the first quarter, the offshore segment delivered another strong performance, supported by close coordination with our operators and clients and a proactive approach to managing a dynamic operational environment. Most importantly, this was achieved while keeping safety at the core of everything we do. Offshore revenue increased by 3% year-on-year to $345 million, supported by the contribution of two jackups that started operations at the end of Q2 2025, and the conversion of two rigs from onshore to offshore island operations. EBITDA remains stable at $237 million with a strong margin at 69%, reflecting disciplined cost management and continued focus on repair and maintenance optimization.
Sequentially, revenue performance was impacted by fewer calendar days and the phasing of maintenance activity. At the end of Q1, the offshore fleet stood at 48 rigs, including 36 jackups and 12 island rigs. We also expect two new island rigs to gradually begin operations in the second half of 2026. During the quarter, we drilled 31 wells and maintained rig availability of 97%, demonstrating the resilience and reliability of our offshore operations. I will now hand over to Emri Zeineldin to cover Oil Field Services.
Thank you, Adel. Good afternoon, everyone. Seconding what my colleagues said, safety is always our top priority and our approach is clear: reduce risk, protect people, and continue delivering for our customers without compromising performance, service quality, nor profitability. A key enabler of this are our remote operations, particularly in our directional drilling segments. By expanding the use of our remote operation service center, we reduced manpower footprint on rigs, enhanced HSE outcomes, and maintained the same level of activity. Let's see why this was another good quarter. Revenue stood at AED 406 million, increasing 19% year-over-year, driven by higher IDS activity, the expanded delivery of discrete services. This favorable increase in revenue is largely attributed to our directional drilling and drilling and completion fluid service lines. Our EBITDA increased 37% year-over-year, supported by growth and the growing contributions from the JVs.
Sequentially, revenue increased by 4%, driven by increased activity, partially offset by the anticipated lower phasing in the unconventional business in 2026. The unconventional business contributed around $105 million in revenue during the first quarter, where we have drilled 94 wells and fracked 64 wells since our activity inception. Operationally, IDS rigs increased to 60 rigs from 57 rigs in Q1 2025, we provided at least one discrete services to 53 additional rigs, bringing our total OFS coverage to 113 rigs from the ADNOC Drilling owned fleet. We also delivered a 30% improvement in integrated drilling services drilling efficiency versus the 2024 benchmark as we continue to set benchmarks for our operational excellence driven by improved execution, technology adoption, and stronger integration. With that, I'll hand it back to Youssef. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Emri. Our board of directors has recommended a dividend of $262.5 million, approximately 6 fils per share, expected to be paid in early June to shareholders of records as of May 18th, 2026. This showcases the resilience and strength of our business model. For FY 2026, we expect to pay a dividend of at least $1.05 billion, which represents a minimum 5% year-on-year increase in dividends in line with our progressive dividend policy. Importantly, I would also like to highlight that the board retains discretion to approve additional dividends above the floor after considering free cash flow accretive growth opportunities. Let's now turn to our guidance. Next slide, please. Building on a solid Q1 performance despite recent geopolitical challenges, the business continues to demonstrate strong operations, disciplined execution, and financial resilience.
As anticipated, activity in unconventional events is expected to moderate in Q2, reflecting the scheduled phasing of our clients' 2026 programs. The shift is forecast to result in approximately $50 million less revenue in Q2 compared to Q1, leading to a lower unconventional revenue for the quarter. Conventional FS is set to offset this trend by expanding services throughout the year and increasing IDS deployments. Emri's OFS team is actively collaborating with clients to accelerate execution. Bottom line, we expect the combined impact of unconventional and additional services to contribute approximately $0.5 billion in the year, maintaining our full year 2026 revenue guidance of around $5 billion, including a $1.5 billion for OFS.
Looking at the first half, these dynamics support revenue expected around $2.44 billion, EBITDA of $1.05 billion, and net income of $0.69 billion. This outlook reflects ongoing cost discipline and operational efficiency. For the remainder of the year, the quarterly phasing of unconventional business will depend on client scheduling and the broader operating environment. Any lower phasing in unconventional will be balanced by increased IDS deployment and additional oilfield services supporting the delivery of our results.
Bottom line, despite the current regional landscape, the resilience of our operations underpinned our confidence in confirming full year 2026 guidance across all key metrics, including revenue of around $5 billion, EBITDA between $2.2 billion-$2.3 billion, net profit of $1.45 billion-$1.5 billion, and free cash flow of $1.2 billion-$1.3 billion, reflecting our growth outlook. Over the medium term, we will focus on sustained drilling and OFS development, supported by new island delivery and a target of approximately 70 IDS rigs by end of 2026. This will reinforce our scale and earnings visibility with EBITDA margin expected around 50% for domestic conventional drilling and 23%-26% for conventional OFS. Maintenance CapEx remains guided at roughly $250 million per year.
We will provide updated guidance for 2027 and beyond as further rig and OFS volume phasing is finalized. As we look ahead, our focus remains clear. Disciplined growth, consistent execution, and strong returns. Our business continues to demonstrate resilience supported by long-term visibility, a robust backlog, and a clear pathway for expansion across our core and adjacent sectors. We remain focused on driving efficiency, maintaining cost discipline, and allocating capital with care, ensuring that growth translates into strong cash generation and sustainable earnings. This approach underpins our confidence in continuing to deliver attractive returns to shareholders while further strengthening our financial position. We will remain disciplined, focused, and consistent in how we execute our strategy. Next slide, please. To conclude.
1Q 2026 was another record quarter as we continue to execute through operational excellence, disciplined execution, and a clear strategic direction. As a key enabler to ADNOC's upstream plans, ADNOC Drilling outlook looks very strong as we continue to deliver our client needs, supporting the long-term energy strategy of meeting rising global demand. The board's recommendation of the first quarter dividend under our progressive policy reflects the resilience of our business models. We are equally excited about advancing our strategy for regional expansion, having successfully closed two transactions that added a total of 30 rigs to our fleet. At the same time, we remain focused on advancing our ESG agenda and pursuing ambitious goals. In summary, ADNOC Drilling is strategically positioned for sustained growth, maintaining resilience while ensuring consistent cash flow and delivering lasting value for the long term. Thank you for your time.
We will now open the floor for your questions.
Thank you very much. Our first question comes from Afaq Nathani from International Securities.
Hello. Congratulations on the great set of numbers as always. A couple of questions from me, more on the strategic side. Firstly, I mean, with the regional tensions, and I know those really haven't impacted the results, which is commendable. Just want to understand if that changes anything on the geo, you know, on the regional expansion strategy. Is it still the same or, you know, would you reassess any of the plans? That's one. The other on the recent news of the OPEC exit. I understand it may be too early to comment, and decision probably is, you know, largely by the government itself. What is your thought around it, and how much more capacity do you think would be required for UAE to potentially achieve its goals?
Could we see sizable requirement for new rigs infrastructure resulting in, you know, material revision of your medium-term guidance as well? Thank you.
Thank you very much. This is Abdulla, the Chief Executive Officer of the company. I think you have touched very important points. The first point about basically, the current situation and disturbance and what we are seeing around our expansion. I think very valid point and this is the good thing that we would like to report is this quarter really have tested our resilience. I think there is something that we are super proud of. It's really not only the resilience of the operating model or the business model because of this long-term contracted, let's say, take or pay contract, but it's really the resilience of our people where they really stood and delivered the highest-ever rig availability, none, reduction of this non-productive time. The quality of the job.
This is really was commendable, with great efforts, with all this disturbance around us. I think you have heard the news, how the country stood basically to respond to these basically unjustified attacks. I think the company is no different. I think we have really stood and delivered the great results despite what's happening in the region. Does this change our strategy? The answer is no. I think we are based on fundamentals. What we see, we see short-term disturbance. I think on the long-term perspective, the supply of this region and what's needed in terms of energy from this region is something that has to restore.
I think we have full trust on our leadership, on our ecosystem, that this energy from this part of the world has really to be restored somehow. The second question about the exit of OPEC and how ADNOC is reacting to this. I think you are right, it's too early to say. I think this is long-awaited decision and the UAE itself have announced that this is the time. I think if you look to all around us where it comes to the strategic reserves, the all basically storages are drained, and now it's the time really to refill these strategic reserves. ADNOC have took the right move into helping the world with bringing the energy security and the energy supply to the entire world.
Soon I think ADNOC will come with their plans, what they would like to do exactly. I think, stay tuned because, we as a company, we are very much, well-positioned to, help ADNOC to fulfill its mandate and to, whatever they would like really to do in the future, we will be the first people to really help them to deliver, their mandate. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Abdulla. That's very welcoming to hear and good luck for the rest of the year. Thank you.
Our next question comes from Guillaume Delaby from Bernstein Societe Generale Group. Your line is open. Please go ahead.
Yes. Good afternoon. Thank you for taking my questions. One strategic question and one more housekeeping one. The strategic question, over the past three years, you developed a portfolio of new OFS technologies by essentially acquiring some high-tech mid-size U.S. OFS. At that time, my view that you were probably one of the very rare net buyers of OFS technologies in the world. My question is, given the current environment, how could your plan change in terms of acquiring new OFS technologies, especially given the fact that maybe now new players are going to emerge and maybe compete with you on valuation? I would like first to have a sense on that. My second, much more, housekeeping question is regarding your number of rigs. There are two island rigs which are joining the fleet.
I think there is another one in 2027, I think three other one. Am I correct on that? Thank you very much.
Thank you very much. I think you are right. I think basically acquiring technology-led U.S. companies, it's very important and a strategic move from our perspective. I think it's no-brainer. I think the future is technology, the future is innovation, the future is all about best practices. We believe our Enersol platform is the right platform with our partner, Alpha Dhabi, really to acquire the right technology, the right IP, in order really to bring these technologies whether to the region or really to allow them to excel in their own domain in U.S. We think it was a great strategic move, we will continue evaluating the market. We still have another AED 800 million, if I'm not mistaken, to invest on the same platform as announced.
Our strategy remains the same, that we will continue to grow in terms of technology, AI-adapted companies. If you have a good target, let us know, please. The other question about number of rigs maybe, Youssef can.
Yes. You, you're absolutely correct on the second point. We have two island rigs where they've already joined the fleet. They will start operations in the remainder of this year. One more island rig, which will join the fleet and start operations this year, and then three more which will join and start operations next year. In total, six island, incremental island rigs in terms of financial impact between the remainder of this year and next year. Four effectively 2028 to be the first year where you have the full impact of all incremental six island rigs.
Thank you very much. Very clear. Thank you very much.
Our next question comes from Anna Kishmariya from UBS. Your line is open, Anna. Please go ahead.
Good day. Thank you very much for strong results and the presentation, c ouple of questions from my side. Starting from the current level of disruption, can we say that in April and May, the disruption to operations from the ongoing situation in the region remains the same as of March levels? Basically, not that much and maybe sometimes offshore operations being suspended for a little bit of time, is it fair to say for April and May as well? The second question will be around UAE move from OPEC as a follow-up. two blocks here. First, around oil field services bit.
If we assume that UAE will not immediately increase the plan for a higher maximum production capacity, what level of additional oil services just to increase production maybe closer to 5 million barrels per day do you think would be required? How much of the contribution from that do you expect to capture? Second one is, I think there were comments that some of this increased production will be coming from the unconventional production. Do you see it as a sign that we can see FID around unconventional phase II reasonably soon? Thank you very much.
Thank you very much. I think you have listed three questions, the first one is about the disturbance in April and May. I can confirm basically, we do not have any material disturbance for our operation in April and May, and we will continue to see the same resilience that you have seen in quarter one will continue with us basically in the current quarter. The answer is we do not see any material disturbance to our operation. The second question about
Additional assets to increase production.
Yeah. I think there is enough, let's say, clarity about what ADNOC would like to do in the coming quarter. I think we are waiting for ADNOC as an operator really to firm their basically plans, what they want to do exactly. The moment they have basically announcing whether it's extra capacity or same capacity or whatever. I think we will be the most positioned player really to fill that mandate. The third question about the unconventional and do we see FID? I think there is really a good momentum happening today with upstream when it comes to FID for phase II. We have already basically engaged with very good international partners like EOG in the country, and I think they have seen great results from their de-risking program.
Hopefully, the operator will announce their FID at the summit. We are really expecting good things to come very soon. Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Our next question comes from Faisal Al-Azmeh from Goldman Sachs. Your line is open. Please go ahead.
Yes, hi. Congratulations on the numbers and the resilience of your operations in the quarter. Hope everyone remains safe as well over the coming period as well. Just two questions on my end. Just if we circle back on the comments on the capacity and the production, is there a sensitivity that you can provide towards how we should think about the number of rigs required should the UAE decide to add another 1 million barrels? I know there is a variable there, which is obviously timing.
If you can, you know, from your perspective, given where you are and the scale that you have today, how should we think about the number of rigs to be added with an additional 1 million barrels compared to the last time you've added 1 million barrels a day of extra capacity? Maybe if we can add another layer to that question, which is, you know, when we think about production, maybe if you can give us some level of sensitivity around every 100,000 barrels of extra oil production, what does that mean for the business? That'll be very helpful. Thank you.
I think, Faisal, you kind of highlighted one of the variables, which is timing. Obviously, depending on the time you need to achieve a certain amount of barrels, that has a significant impact. There's also a significant number of other variables. For example, how much of that is onshore versus offshore. Offshore, you would have a higher productivity per rig. Even within offshore, how much of that is jackup versus island. Also, for example, if it's conventional versus unconventional. Conventional productivity per rig is higher than unconventional, given the shorter well life of the unconventional. Also, the nature of the fields. You have some giant fields, like Upper Zakum versus some smaller fields. There's a very significant number of variables that would impact that.
For example, if you look at the number of rigs we talk about when we talk about the unconventional, these are very significant, despite the actual production from the unconventional being materially smaller than the conventional. I think there's a really very large number of variables that makes it very difficult at this point to try to estimate. I think what we need to look at is different scenarios. Obviously, yes, you mentioned what we had last time, where 1 million barrels was equivalent to 45 rigs. I think the best starting point is to start from something historical factual and then to simulate that if, for example, this is more conventional, more unconventional, more onshore, offshore, then what that would mean.
Because again, as Mohamed mentioned, we need first to get from ADNOC, kind of a well plan for kind of what is their future drilling well look like, and then effectively translating that well plan into a rig plan. Now, what it means financially, again, obviously that also has a linkage because, for example, as you know, if it's, for example, more unconventional, then the top line per well is significantly higher, given the ability to also offer oil field services and lump-sum turnkey, but obviously at lower margins, given the tighter economics for the operator.
Similarly, the financial impact would need to be simulated on a kind of on a scenario basis, where if it is for the conventional side, then it is fair to continue to simulate it on a kind of on a rig basis, where, for example, as you know now, at a very high level on the onshore side, you were generating around $20 million revenue per rig, $10 million EBITDA per rig. For example, on the offshore side, we are averaging closer to $30 million revenue per rig, per year, and closer to $20 million EBITDA per rig per year. For example, if it comes to unconventional, then that will be simulated more on a well basis, given the oil field services component.
That would be more closer to between $8 million-$10 million revenue per unconventional well, depending on, again, the nature of the well, being oil, gas, et cetera. I think at this point, I think looking at sensitivities and ranges, kind of rather than looking at specific numbers. While obviously we're now starting also kind of our business planning schedule, because also the kind of latest announcement coincides with the general natural business planning cycle. Basically by our Q3 results, we would have the new kind of business plan for 2027 to 2031 endorsed.
I think at that point, we'll be able to provide a clearer guidance in terms of both 2027 as well as kind of updated medium-term and long-term guidance once the latest plans are baked into our own kind of board-approved business plan by end of October.
In terms of, you know, I guess maybe if I can add another question, just when we think about, you know, knowing your clients, and what they are set up best for, do you think it's mostly gonna be on the unconventional side if they wanted to add another 1 million barrels? What are the deciding factors that go into that plan when we think about it, whether it's If we think about onshore and offshore versus unconventional, maybe if you can shed some color on how the decision-making process usually takes place?
When you think about what technically our clients are, our clients are multiple entities which have multiple different international partners. For example, our client on the, our offshore side would be ADNOC Offshore, where, for example, in some of the biggest fields like Zakum, you will have, for example, a company like Exxon having an important role. For example, on the other hand, you have ADNOC Onshore. You have different partners. We have, for example, ADNOC Sour Gas, where Oxy is very important in the expansion of the onshore sour gas fields. You have, for example, on the offshore sour gas side with Hail & Ghasha, a separate company. You have the unconventional as separate companies with Petronas and EOG.
By definition, the growth of ADNOC will always be diversified because you have a number of different partners who have invested significant CapEx into different concessions. You will never, let's say at ADNOC as the UAE, take all your expansion into only one field or one bucket. One, because by definition, you want to have a diversified, and these different fields give you different things in terms of oil, gas, et cetera. Also because you have different partners who have invested substantial CapEx in different fields and concessions, and each of these partners needs to be able to see a return on their investment. Hence, you'll always have a diversified. Again, if we think back to the historical example, when we had the growth from four to five, it was almost equally split between the growth in onshore and offshore.
The growth of the fleet was almost also equally split, with almost each of the two fleets increasing by 50%. That diversified approach to growth is inherent by design, given the concession partners and international partners, and it's something we've seen and we expect to continue to see, as opposed to disproportionate growth from one specific field or sub-part of operations.
Very helpful. Thank you very much.
Our next question comes from Abhishek Kumar from Bank of America. Abhishek, your line is open. Please go ahead.
Thank you very much, and congratulations on the resilience and a great quarter. My question is around two. One is on Enersol. We haven't seen any acquisition in that business for some time now. What is the thinking there in terms of deployment of balance AED 800 million? Is it valuation which is preventing you from doing these deals? Or, what is the thinking there is the first one. Second one is, again, I mean, we have talked about that in previous questions, et cetera, in terms of the various scenarios that you talked about.
Again, I mean, staying on that, given, in offshore, the preference is more towards island rigs. Is it okay to assume that between jackup and island rigs, the preference from the operator is for island rigs, especially on the Upper Zakum, which is going to play a significant role in this production expansion, if that happens? Thank you.
Thank you very much for your question. Youssef is the Enersol chair of the board. If you would like to hear from the company, Enersol can, Youssef can answer. If you'd like to hear from the shareholder, I can answer it. I think from my perspective, yes, I think the guys are really trying to find the right target. We have deployed the management now. The management now is fully on board with the company. Dean and his team have already taken the role of finding the right targets. We have find good targets, and they are already on the M&A pipeline. Couple of targets basically is were turned down because of high multiples.
As I said, we were very, very, let's say careful when it comes to value creation, and we would like really to put the CapEx on platforms that really generate value for us and for the company as Enersol. I can tell you the pipeline is full. They have good targets they are really assessing. Stay tuned. I think, the guys will announce something soon. Maybe Youssef as the Enersol Chair can comment on this as well.
No, absolutely, Mohamed, fully agreed. Abhishek, I think the point you made about valuations is very fair. We are very disciplined. You've seen the increase in valuations for us. We're not under any pressure to try to deploy by a specific point in time. For us, this is a long-term strategic approach of building an IP and patents and technology portfolio that future-proofs the business and puts us at kind of a clear value prop around competitiveness. We'll do it at the right time. As Mohamed said, we have a very healthy pipeline to do it, but we'll only do it at the right term. Same thing with the regional growth, right.
We're doing it because we have the right deals, now, but at the end, we also have the ability to deploy rigs organically like we've won, four rigs organically in the GCC. For us, M&A is always a complementary tool that we'll do it kind of as long as effectively it makes strategic and financial sense.
Yeah. Thank you.
Our next question comes from Audrey Zhong.
Just one second, Youssef. One second please.
Your line is open. Please go ahead.
I think we missed another question. I think your question was about the preference, jackup or island. I think going forward, ADNOC have really made their preference that they would like really to work on islands, artificial islands with bringing island rigs in order really to bring the efficiency with this extended reach, let's say, capability of the new rigs that we have bought. Two of them already in the country. The other four is coming 2027. I think the future is really, really bright. Once ADNOC maybe they need announce the new capacities, more rigs will come as well as island rigs.
Thank you very much. Our next question comes from Audrey Zhong. Audrey, your line is open. Please go ahead.
Hi. Good afternoon. This is Audrey from China Securities. Thank you for taking my question. My question is about statistics. Actually, the first small question is about cost. I observed that the cost in Q1 increased about 11%. Compared with the revenue increase, it is a little bit higher. I want to know what drives the cost to be higher. This is the first one. The second one is about your EBITDA margin. I observed that the first quarter's EBITDA margin is about 43%. Compared with your guidance, it's a little bit lower. Can we expect that the EBITDA margin in the Q3 and Q4 would be a little bit higher? Thank you.
Thank you, Audrey, and thank you again for hosting us in China. I think on the first point, there is the reason and these two points are interlinked, the EBITDA and the cost. Because the oil field services has again outperformed in Q1 and grew faster than guidance and consensus and was the fastest-growing part of the business, it does come with a higher cost as a percentage of revenue and effectively a lower EBITDA margin, and hence resulting in that lower overall margin or higher overall cost as a percentage of revenue. However, again, because of the more asset-light relative nature of the services, it continues to propel our return, and that's why our return on equity has reached 33%.
That's why we continue to see it as a very healthy outperformance that, yes, optically may show as higher cost or lower EBITDA margin, but kind of from a returns perspective, it continue to be accretive to the business. From a strategic perspective, having that growth in the oil field services combined with the rigs allows us to continue to be the only drilling contractor in the Middle East that is able to offer that integrated drilling service and lump-sum turnkey offering, which positions us very competitively both in the UAE and externally to gain more market share. We see it as a very kind of intentional and kind of accretive and strategic move. Do we expect to see a slightly higher margins in Q3 and Q4?
Yes, because we have the island rigs coming in, which come at around the 65% EBITDA margin, and hence by definition, present a bit of a margin boost. Again, it's not something that we were trying to specifically reach. For us, the focus is on the returns. Even if the OFS was to effectively come in and accelerate again and hence offset that additional margin from the island, that's totally okay because again, the return is the focus. Do we have a margin advantage coming in? Yes, because of the island. If the OFS is to outperform again and again, that may offset that advantage. That's again, absolutely fine because of the return enhancement that that brings.
Great. Thank you, Youssef. That's very helpful. Thank you.
Our next question comes from Mick Pickup from Barclays. Mick, your line is open. Please go ahead.
Good afternoon, everybody. A couple of questions, if I may, on MBPS. It obviously looks like it's completed a bit sooner than expected. Obviously, you've been very resilient in your own domestic market. Has MBPS been seeing any impacts in its markets which are non-UAE? Secondly, Youssef, I think you gave a guide for 1H. If my math is right, 2Q is going to be flat on 1Q. How does that tally with MBPS coming in for half a quarter?
Thank you very much for the question. I think for us, MBPS, really a great deal. We really managed to close on a record time. I think on your second point, Mick, in terms of the Yes, you're absolutely right that kind of implied from the guidance is kind of Q2 relatively flattish on Q1. As you said, on one hand, you have a slight advantage of having a month and kind of three weeks of MBPS coming in. On the other hand, as we have mentioned, because on the unconventional we were significantly ahead of plan on phase I, Turn well effectively now getting close to almost 100 wells done.
Some of these wells are also have effectively more like deeper laterals, effectively almost being in a reality, even though they're 100 wells, if you compare them to the original 144 wells, in reality they are more than 100 wells because obviously ADNOC looks at this on a footage basis and hence we're getting more footage done. As a percentage, we're even more than 100 wells out of 144 wells. As a result of this, you will have slightly less in the unconventional in Q2 because some of these have already been preloaded before. Hence these two things, a slight impact of just above a month from MBPS and the slide preloading that already took place for the unconventional broadly offset each other, leaving us with a Q2 that is broadly in line with Q1.
You're absolutely right on that assessment.
Okay, thanks.
Our next question comes from Aakarsh Tomar from SICO. The line is open. Please go ahead.
Thank you so much for the opportunity to ask the question, and congratulations on a great set of results. This is Aakarsh Tomar from SICO Investment Bank in Bahrain. Just one last question. I mean, I know you have answered a lot of questions around the hypothetical scenario of the higher minimum sustainable capacity. Just wanted to know that, Youssef, like you said, last time you had an increase of 1 million barrels per day, you needed 45 rigs. Now, my understanding is that you don't need these 45 rigs to maintain the production, right? It was for the increment you needed it. In case there is an announcement of a higher minimum sustainable capacity, how many of these 45 rigs can you use for that?
I mean, assuming the split is like last time, 50% onshore, 50% offshore. Assuming everything remains as per like last, the last increase, how many of these 45 rigs would be required to maintain the production, and how many can be used for the next leg of growth? Thank you.
I think we have previously communicated that there is a high single-digit number of onshore, rigs, which were the older rigs, which were effectively getting, repurposed. We've generally kind of talked about kind of, around a couple of jackups in that, in that space. Apart from that, the vast majority of the, of the rigs and effectively all our fleet, pretty much, which is, which is operating, needs to continue to operate in order to maintain one, the 5 million barrels per day plateau. It's not only about reaching the 5 million, it is also about maintaining that 5 million against a backdrop of natural decline of these fields and wells. These are ultimately fields and wells as they age. There is more work that's required to effectively maintain that capacity. Plus, there's also a gas growth.
There's a significant minority of rigs which support ADNOC's gas plant, which part of them are standalone gas. They're not necessarily linked to the 5 million barrels per day. They're standalone onshore sour gas, offshore sour gas in Shah, in Hail and Ghasha in unconventional. Hence, apart from, call it this kind of 10 ± onshore and offshore rigs, which we've already kind of explained the repurposing of and already predominantly kind of have exited or exiting from the financials, the vast majority of the remaining fleet is continuing to operate to support the 5 million barrels per day and the gas expansion plan.
Hence, to the extent if and when there is any kind of further upgrade of capacity or any additional growth, then obviously the vast majority of that would need to be served by kind of incremental rigs. So, kind of the I think two parts to the answer. One part is even if hypothetically there was nothing above the 5 million barrels per day , that would not present any risk to the existing business because the impact of that in terms of it's predominantly on the onshore side that we've already baked into the kind of the financials. Plus, we obviously have ability as well now with a regional footprint that is 30 plus rigs. We now have more flexibility and options in terms of deployment of rigs.
The second part of your question is to the extent if and when there is an upside in capacity, does this still present an upside to our rig count? The answer is absolutely yes.
Thank you so much.
As a reminder, to ask a question, please press star followed by one on your telephone keypad now. Our next question is a follow-up question from Anna Kishmariya from UBS. Anna, your line is open.
Hi.
Please go ahead.
Thank you for taking a follow-up. A quick question around Oman and Kuwait contribution in first quarter. Can you please specify what was the EBITDA contribution for the quarter and what is expected overall for the year, if you can? Thank you so much.
Yes, for sure. On the SLDC side, that is the one that contributed in Q1. We're looking at around $30 million contribution from that side of the business. And then MBPS will start coming in on the revenue side. Again, on Q2 it will add incrementally around $30 million. Obviously, MBPS is bigger than SLDC, but because it's not coming in for the full size, it's coming in only for part of that contract with just under two months as part of that.
If you kind of annualize all of that in terms of a full year, you'd be looking at above kind of $250 million of revenue run rate from both businesses combined.
Thank you.
We currently have no further questions. I'd like to hand back to Chief Executive Officer, Abdulla, for some closing remarks.
Thank you very much for your time, and we really enjoyed the discussion. Our commitment remain to you that we will remain disciplined, resilient, and transparent with you about our activities, about, let's say, progress. Looking forward to see you on the next call. Thank you very much, guys.
That has concluded today's call. We thank everyone for joining. You may now disconnect your lines.