Italian drilling company, Saipem has won offshore drilling contracts in Abu Dhabi and Romania worth more than $160m, just weeks after a string of contract wins across the GCC that included multibillion-dollar awards from Saudi Arabian state-owned energy giant Saudi Aramco.

In a statement, the engineering, procurement, and construction contractor said drilling activities under the four-year Abu Dhabi contract would be carried out by the high-spec jack-up Perro Negro 8 – in continuity with current operations.

Under the other contract, Saipem will drill a well in Romania’s Black Sea water, with works expected to start in Q4 2019.

Submersible rig Scarabeo 9, a drilling unit suitable for operations in the area, will carrry out works in Romania, and was picked for its ability to lower its tower, allowing to cross the Bosphorus Strait.

The wins come weeks after the Milan Stock Exchange-listed business won two onshore engineering and construction contracts worth $3.5bn (SAR13.1bn) from Saudi Aramco to develop land facilities at its Berri and Marjan gas fields.

May 2019 saw it announce two contracts worth $100m for offshore drilling work in Middle East and Norway.

In Q1 2019 alone, the group bagged new contracts worth $2.9bn, three times higher than the $1.1bn of new orders it secured in the first three months of 2018.