ONGC to stop hiring older rigs under new policy

Vol 20, PW 21 (13 Jul 17) People & Policy

Shelf Drilling, Jagson, Aban and Paragon Offshore will be panicking at the thought of a new oil ministry driven policy banning ONGC from hiring old offshore rigs built before 2004.

This month (July) ONGC's drilling department in Mumbai sent a detailed 'note' or recommendation to director technology and field services Shashi Shanker listing 100 advantages of hiring offshore rigs built after 2004. "Shanker sent the note to the oil ministry," confirms a source.

Also listed are 120 disadvantages of older rigs, chief among them the fact they experience more downtime than more modern jack-ups. During an executive committee meeting on April 10, ONGC chairman DK Sarraf noted that ONGC's rigs, which are on average more than 35-years old, spend 16.7% of their time sitting idle against the global average of 10%.

"Rigs might be on a downtime rate even when not working," we hear. "But other services (logging, vessels) are not; ONGC pays even if no work is done." Shelf rigs off India are CE Thornton, built 1974; FG McClintock, built 1975; J.

T. Angel, built 1982; Trident-II, built 1977; Trident-XII, built 1982; Parameswara, built 1983; and Galveston Key, built 1978.

Likewise Jagson's Deepsea Fortune and Deepsea Fossil, both built 1982; and Deepsea Matdrill, built 1981. Paragon's L-786 (Noble Kenneth Delaney) was built 1983; L-1112 (Noble Ed Holt) in 1981 and M1161 (Noble Charlie Yester) in 1980.

Aban Offshore also has several old rigs off India: Aban-II built 1981; Aban-III built 1974; Aban-IV built 1983 and Aban Ice built in 1959 but converted to a drillship in 1975. On June 29 oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan hinted at the preparation of a new rig policy at a meeting with drillers but whether it will materialise remains to be seen. One driller worries his company will be "finished" if ONGC adopts this policy in its next tender to rehire or replace nine jack-ups. "I don't think it will be easy for ONGC to implement such a policy," adds another driller. "What if Shelf or Jagson tell ONGC they won't offer rigs for rehire? Few rigs in the world have pug marks (footprints) that fit ONGC's offshore platforms." ONGC, he adds, depends on old rigs because new rigs are heavier and leave deeper footprints in the soil. Late chairman Subir Raha realised this could not go on forever and introduced a policy to hire new generation rigs built to ONGC's specifications with spud can pressure under 39 tonnes/square-metre. ONGC' choice of rigs is restricted to Marathon LeTourneau, Baker Marine, Levingston and Friede & Goldman design.

ONGC to stop hiring older rigs under new policy

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