Gulf Drilling International, Ltd. (GDI) announced today the award of a contract valued at QR59 million to Nakilat - Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd (“N-KOM”) to carryout major repair, modification and upgrade works to its offshore jack-up rig, ‘Al-Doha’. This work is scheduled to commence in May of 2011 and will continue through August 2011. The planned lay-off period is in accordance with both GDI internal and the Gulf International Services' 2011 budgets, and we do not expect it to have an adverse impact on our 2011 projections
In cooperation with its renowned technical partner, Keppel Offshore Marine, N-KOM operates "Erhama Bin Jaber Al Jalahma" a world class shipyard facility located in the Port of Ras Laffan, Qatar. The recently inaugurated shipyard is the only facility in Qatar fully capable of performing the repair, modification and upgrade work required for ‘Al-Doha’. This contract represents the first project of its kind to be undertaken by N-KOM in Qatar.
Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Chairman of GDI said: “I am very pleased to see the vision of our leaders to be transformed into a practical reality as evidenced by Nakilat’s new shipyard. Operating a world-class shipyard in the State of Qatar in support of our oil and gas activities is a key objective in our national growth strategy. We celebrate with Qatar upon achieving this goal and are happy to provide GDI’s support to this new marine industry.”
Ibrahim J. Al-Othman, GDI’s CEO said: “This marks the first time that GDI will use a local shipyard to carry out critical life extension work for one of its rigs. GDI has previously used the N-KOM shipyard for some minor work that was required for one of our offshore jack-up rigs, the “Al-Khor”. The rig was about to be mobilized under a new contract and N-KOM provided GDI with a quick and convenient solution. We noted with considerable satisfaction that a quality job was done in a timely manner by the shipyard and the rig is now back in service. GDI appreciates the convenience and cost effectiveness of having a shipyard facility with such capabilities located in close proximity to our operations. GDI is committed to the growth of Qatar’s industrial base and in promoting business opportunities with another Qatari company. We expect a considerable amount of our future shipyard work to be contracted to N-KOM as the company has provided us with the confidence and assurance of their capabilities to deliver the services we need within a specified time period and at a competitive price.” 
Muhammad Ghannam, Chairman of N-KOM said: “This contract with GDI is an important next step in the development in the growth of N-KOM and for the Erhama Bin Jaber Al Jalahma Shipyard. Nakilat and its joint ventures continue to aggressively market the many and varied capabilities of the new shipyard, and the quality and value of our services and products. The new shipyard meaningfully contributes to the development and expansion of Qatar’s industrial base by creating a new marine industries and services sector. The N-KOM Joint Venture is both strategic and key to the goal of positioning the State of Qatar as an internationally recognized center of excellence in ship repair, maintenance and conversion. This agreement will contribute to N-KOM’s steadily increasing reputation in the region and beyond as a leading service provider to businesses and government entities in meeting their industrial requirements for all types and sizes of vessels and offshore equipment.”

Mr. Abu Bakar Mohd Nor, CEO of N-KOM said: “N-KOM is pleased to received the timely endorsement of GDI as we continue our efforts to communicate our outstanding service capabilities to all Qatari companies involved in marine related businesses. GDI’s commitment to support the development of other Qatari businesses is very commendable, and we are confident that GDI will also benefit from the proximity of its corporate headquarters to our shipyard and the high value services N-KOM will provide for its offshore equipment. This is sure to promote greater efficiencies and cost effectiveness to all of our customers. N-KOM is very optimistic about its future prospects, including the potential prospect of building a new, state of the art jack-up rig for GDI in the near future from our facility at Ras Laffan.” 

About Gulf Drilling International Ltd (Q.S.C)
GDI is a subsidiary of Gulf International Services (Q.S.C.) (“GIS”), a company listed on the Qatar Stock Exchange. Formed in 2004, GDI has a fleet of nine (9) drilling rigs, all located in Qatar, consisting of 5 offshore Jack-up rigs and 4 onshore rigs.

About N-KOM
N-KOM is a QP affiliated company, the major shareholder is Nakilat and 20% share is held by Keppels Fels of Singapore. N-KOM manages and operates the Erhama Bin Jaber Al Jalahma Shipyard at Ras Laffan which opened in November 2010.