Quippo wins Oil India rig contract

Quippo Oil and Gas is celebrating another success after winning an Oil India drilling contract for the BAGHEWALA and Dandewala fields in Rajasthan.

Last month (April) Quippo beat troubled Ahmedabad-based driller John Energy to win a Rs56cr ($7.9m) contract for two years with an option to extend by another year. Ahmedabad-based Deep Industries also bid but failed to qualify after technical evaluation.

Contacted by this report, a Quippo source confirmed rig mobilisation "will start anytime now." Oil India floated the tender last July (2018) for a 1000-hp rig to drill vertical and deviated wells up to depths ranging from 1100-2800 metres and extended the original August 21, 2018 deadline to November 6, 2018.

Quippo would not confirm which rig will be mobilised but an industry source tells us it is 1000-hp Rig-4, presently working for Schlumberger at Cairn's RJ-ON-90/1 block in Rajasthan. Oil India is carrying out a 20 development well drilling campaign at BAGHEWALA and is also planning a five well development campaign at nearby Dandewala.

BAGHEWALA is believed to hold 34m tonnes of in-place heavy oil at 500 metres and 14m tonnes of in-place oil at 1600 metres.