Jindal Drilling awarded $262 million contract from ONGC

22 January 2009

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.