Lamprell has won a $227-million contract from an unnamed drilling contractor for construction of a newbuild jackup rig.

North Drilling Co. (NDC) is preparing to transfer the Sahar-1 rig to the Persian Gulf to drill on the Farzad-A field.

ATP Oil & Gas (NASDAQ:ATPG) and ATP East Med B.V. have started drilling at the Shimshon well in the Levant basin offshore Israel with the Ensco 5006 drilling unit.

Türkiye Petrolleri Anonim Ortaklığı (TPAO) has contracted GSP Offshore’s jackup GSP Jupiter.

Lamprell has confirmed that National Drilling Co. (NDC) Abu Dhabi has exercised options for two further new jackups, with a combined value of over $333 million.

Pars Oil and Gas Co. (POGC) expects to start drilling the oil layer of the South Pars field in the Persian Gulf during the second half of May.

DNO International has had to shut in production from two fields in block 8 offshore Oman.

National Iranian Oil Co. (NIOC) has allocated $182 million to further development of the South Pars gas field in the Persian Gulf.

Gulf Drilling Inc. of Qatar has ordered from PPL Shipyard Pte Ltd a newbuild Pacific Class 400 jackup drilling rig for delivery next March.