Greka in court again for not paying suppliers
UK-listed Greka Drilling is acquiring a terrible reputation in India as yet another company accuses it of not paying for services used.
First it was little-known Arabian Oilfield Supplies, then it was Bengaluru-based Petropath Fluids and now Kolkata-based Arihant Cargo Carriers has laid charges against Greka at the Durgapur civil court in West Bengal. "Greka owes us more than Rs1.58cr ($235,000)," says Arihant CEO Abhay Jain."It's been more than 18 months but we haven't received the money." Jain explains that Greka hired Arihant in 2014 to move its rigs, handling tools and other oilfield equipment after it won a $65m contract from Essar to drill and complete 100 wells at the Raniganj CBM field at Durgapur.
"When Greka didn't pay we had no choice but to file a case," says Jain. "At the last hearing (on September 9) we asked the judge (Barnali Dasgupta) to pass an injunction preventing Greka from moving its rigs from Raniganj (without paying us)." Greka currently has four CBM drilling rigs in India: two at Essar's field in Raniganj and two idle at a Special Economic Zone in Kolkata.
"We told the court that Greka is a 'natural (habitual) defaulter'," adds another Arihant Group source. "The court noted the other two cases filed by Arabian Oilfield and Petropath.
It looks like Greka has cheated every vendor it has dealt with in India."
