Essar Oilfields Services wins contract in Vietnam

Essar Oilfields Services Limited (EOSL), a part of the Essar Group, has won its first contract outside India, valued at $ 40 million, from Vietsovpetro JV (VSP), an engineering and procurement company operating in Vietnam, for drilling a 4800 metre offshore well.

The company will deploy its semi-submersible rig Essar Wildcat for the project, which will end in mid-October.

Essar Wildcat has successfully completed the drilling campaign of Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) in the Krishna Godavari basin block within the stipulated time frame,

According to a press release from Essar, EOSL won the contract against stiff competition from international drilling contractors like Transocean, Diamond Offshore, Pride International and Neptune Marine Drilling.

"This contract demonstrates the confidence of international oil companies in the capabilities of the Wildcat in meeting their HPHT drilling requirements," Mr. Ankur Gupta, CEO, EOSL commented.

"A six-member team from VSP visited the Essar Wildcat in March and found the rig, its crew, HSE practices, organization and management meeting its stringent requirements," he said.

"Essar Wildcat has demonstrated its drilling capability in India and is now poised to set benchmarks internationally," Mr V Ashok, Director, Essar Shipping Ports and Logistics (ESPLL), said.

"Our state-of-the-art rig has the capability to negotiate water depths of 600 metres and drill up to 7,500 metres. We would have invested up to $ 1 billion in this business after the delivery of the two jack up rigs," he said.

EOSL owns and operates one semi-submersible rig and 12 land rigs. In order to widen its presence in this field, it has also placed orders with ABG Shipyard Ltd India for two jack up rigs, the release added.

NNN