ONGC has accepted and begun using Jindal Drilling & Industries Ltd. new build jackup Virtue I. The rig started drilling operations off the west coast of India on 17 January 2009, 116 days ahead of schedule. ONGC contracted the rig for a five-year firm contract at a value of $262 million (Rs1,278 crore).

Jindal Drilling had also leased jack-up rig 'Noble Geoge McLeod' to ONGC for three years for an amount of Rs850 crore. The rig was delivered to the state-owned firm in first week of January 2009.

In 2007, ONGC had placed orders worth $400 million with Jindal Drilling

Virtue I which is owned by Virtue Drilling Pte. Ltd., Jindal's Singapore-based joint venture company. The rig, which is capable of drilling to a total depth of 30,000 feet (9,144 m) while operating in up to 350 feet (107 m) of water, was delivered from Keppel FELS shipyard in Singapore in December of last year.

Keppel Fels has received 33 orders for its proprietary KFels B Class design since it was launched in 2000, and has completed 25 units, including Virtue I.

Indian drilling contractors have ordered nine of the jack-ups from Keppel Fels for total value of $1.5 billion. The rigs are capable of sinking wells to depths of 30,000 feet in water upto 350 feet deep.

Jindal Drilling & Industries has a joint venture with Norwegian outfit Sevan Marine that will build a rig for India's Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC).

Sevan holds a 77.5 per cent interest in the venture with Jindal taking the remaining 22.5 per cent.

The deep-water rig, which is expected to be operational within the next three years, will be capable of operating in water depths of 10,000 feet and drilling down to 50,000 feet. Sevan Marine will operate the rig with Jindal playing a supporting role, providing services as the local partner.

The Norwegian company has an existing deal to charter one of its cylindrical drilling units, being built by Chinese yard Cosco, to ONGC for a deep-water campaign off the east coast of India, for three years from December 2010.

Jindal has become the first Indian drilling outfit to take a stake in a deepwater unit capable of operating in 10,000 feet of water, beating rivals Aban Offshore and Great Offshore. Aban's deep-water rigs can drill at depths of about 7000 feet, but the company has plans for more units able to operate at greater depths.

Meanwhile, the planned joint venture between the country's largest oil producer and the largest shipping company Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) to build rigs may not take off due to weak crude prices.

Due to falling prices many rigs are available for rent at cheaper rates.
 
SCI also had decided to get into building ships last year since demand was rising. Hence the two companies had come together for building rigs. However this plan may be shelved for now due to a thin demand

Rigs are primarily used for exploration. Once the oil is found, the field is developed for production. With crude oil prices declining, exploration activity is likely to get impacted, mainly in the deep sea fields where typically the cost of production is $40-50 a barrel.