Random drilling rig question - middle east vs. NAM?

[birdman86]

Was thinking about this the other day. A middle east drilling rig costs upwards of $60 MM to build, might be 3000 HP, and are just massive. Meanwhile super spec's in the Permian are more like $40 MM, 1500 HP triples. Why the difference? Isn't middle east drilling supposed to be extremely cheap and easy? Why the extra cost, size, etc? I can't find anything about average depths but with all the attention a 17,000 ft lateral gets over here w/ MWD etc I can't imagine they're much deeper in the mid east.

[infamous]

because the child labour used to procure the elements used for the production of the materials are significantly less when factoring in the costs associated with bypassing the various levels of power.