The contract, which includes an option for a fourth year, will use the company’s Tarzan class rig which offers deep drilling capabilities in shallow water.

Rowan Companies already has two Tarzan rigs operating offshore in the kingdom.

Drilling operations are expected to begin during the second quarter of 2008.

In 2007 Aramco announced an $18bn plan to increase capacity to 12.5m barrels-a-day (b/d) by 2009, ramping up to 15 million b/d by 2020.