Valaris appoints new CEO to ARO Drilling venture with Aramco

(WO) – Valaris Limited announced that ARO Drilling, its 50/50 joint venture with Saudi Aramco, has appointed Mohamed Hegazi as Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately.

Mohamed Hegazi previously served as Chief Executive Officer of TGT Diagnostics, a provider of wellbore integrity measurement solutions to the oil and gas industry. Prior to being appointed Chief Executive Officer in 2015, Mr. Hegazi served as Chief Operating Officer and Managing Director from 2012 to 2014. Before joining TGT Diagnostics, Mr. Hegazi held various senior leadership positions at SLB (formerly Schlumberger).

Mr. Hegazi replaces Derek Kent as ARO Chief Executive Officer, who will be retiring following a handover period.

Valaris President and Chief Executive Officer Anton Dibowitz said, “Mohamed brings to the role strong leadership skills, oilfield service and capital markets experience as well as extensive knowledge of working in the Middle East. ARO is attractively positioned with its 20 rig newbuild program to help meet increasing rig demand offshore Saudi Arabia, and I look forward to working with Mohamed as we chart its next chapter of growth and value creation.”