Drilling contractor Abbot Group trumpeted Monday that its return to Saudi Arabia after a 15-year absence helped double net profit for 2006 to $30.7 million.

Abbot last year bought the voting shares in Songa Drilling AS, which helped operating profit from drilling grow 71 percent to $77.2 million. Group revenues were up 70 percent to $1.16 billion.

Two land rigs in Saudi Arabia were on $20-million contracts, as the Kingdom begins repleneshing reserves.