John rig free as Selan stops drilling
John Energy's onland rig John-29 is likely to be available for hire soon as BSE-listed Selan Exploration can't seem to decide whether to go ahead with or halt its drilling programme.
Selan re-started work on February 14 at the 5-sq km Karjisan field but then after completing the second well Indrora#17 at its 130-sq km Indrora field on April 4 it suddenly decided to stop work again. "We are not ONGC or Oil India," says a Selan source, "so have limited money." He adds only wells which have received approvals can be drilled.
Selan hired John-29 in January for six months to drill four wells: one at Karjisan, another at Indrora and two at the 36-sq km Bakrol gasfield, all to between 1500 and 2000 metres TD. Selan is paying $17,000/day for 1000-hp John-29 on a flexible contract which allows John to mobilise the rig to another site if drilling is halted.
"We were told to stop drilling after the second well [spud on March 14] was completed," confirms a John source. "Selan will give us a call when they want to restart drilling."