Greka Bags Essar Drilling Deal
Greka Drilling Limited, the largest independent and specialised unconventional oil & gas driller in Asia, has secured a new contract to provide drilling services to Essar Oil Limited ("Essar") on the Raniganj East Block in West Bengal, India.
Essar had previously engaged Greka Drilling in late 2013 to provide drilling services on Raniganj East and this contract was concluded in 2015 with a total of 16 wells being drilled.
Under the new contract, once mobilised, Greka Drilling will provide two of its high quality semi-automated GD75 rigs, that are already situated within country, to drill vertical and directional wells on a day-rate basis (rather than other current contracts where the Company is paid on a metres drilled basis) for the development of Essar’s Raniganj East coal bed methane block.
The contract is for a period of one year and has an estimated value of around US$8 million. The commencement of drilling operations remains subject to the completion of pre-mobilisation requirements which are currently expected to be complete by end of this quarter.
Essar is a leading producer of coal bed methane in India whose Government has recently reiterated its commitment to developing the country’s domestic natural gas resources as a clean fuel.
Randeep S. Grewal, Chairman of Greka Drilling, commented, "The decision by Essar to re-contract Greka Drilling for the Raniganj East project is affirmation of the quality of our technologically advanced GD75 rigs and experienced crews in India. While we still expect relatively limited activity in H1 2016, we welcome the prospect of new drilling for Essar and further drilling for Green Dragon Gas during the course of the year. In China, 17 LiFaBriC wells remain to be drilled from last year’s order for Green Dragon Gas, although the timing of drilling will depend on customer mobilisation instructions. We continue to be optimistic about the prospects for the unconventional gas industry in India and elsewhere and our long-term role in developing this vital domestic major resource as we concurrently continue to do in China.”
