Tower Resources Lines Up ADES Jack-Up Rig for Cameroon Drilling Op
June 10, 2025
Tower Resources, the AIM-listed oil and gas company focused on Africa, has issued a Letter of Award (LoA) to Advanced Energy Systems (ADES), an affiliate of Saudi firm ADES Holding, for the provision of a jack-up rig for drilling job in Central Africa.
The rig proposed under the LoA is ADES’ Admarine 510, which will be put in charge of drilling the NJOM-3 well on Tower's Thali license in Cameroon in the fourth quarter 2025.
The Admarine 510, a GustoMSC CJ-46-X100-D triangular design three-legged jack-up unit, built in 2019, and capable of operating in water depth up to 375 ft, is just completing its five-yearly recertification project in Bahrain.
The rig has also recently been awarded a contract with Addax Petroleum for operations in Cameroon, to start in late 2025, and it is intended that the rig will drill the NJOM-3 well for Tower before beginning operations with Addax Petroleum.
The commercial terms of the ADES proposal to TRCSA are confidential, but the fact that the Admarine 510 was already committed to move to Cameroon for other operators has facilitated the discussions with the rig owner and resulted in more favorable terms than the owner could have offered otherwise.
The terms are well in line with the company's previous projections and compare very favorably to offers received from other rig owners earlier this year and last year.
The LoA is subject to contract and usual conditions precedent, including receipt of government approvals in Cameroon and completion of TRCSA's farm-out to Prime Global Energies Limited as announced on in January 2025.
"We are delighted to make this award, and are looking forward to working with ADES on the NJOM-3 well this year. Our rig selection process has been made a little more complex by the opportunity to coordinate our timing with that of other nearby oil and gas companies, including Addax Petroleum in particular, however I believe it has resulted in a very good commercial outcome for all parties,” said Jeremy Asher, Tower Resources Chairman and CEO.
