Reliance terminates drilling contract with Aban Offshore unit
13 Mar 2007
Mumbai: Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has terminated its contract relating to its drilling order with Aban Offshore subsidiary. RIL has issued a termination notice to the drilling contract entered with the company for deployment of Rig Deep Driller 1.
Deep Drilling 1 Pte Ltd (DD1) has received a notice of termination from Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) relating to the drilling contract, Aban Offshore Ltd informed the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
Deep Drilling 1 Pte Ltd would dispute RIL's right to terminate the contract, it added.
Aban Offshore is, meanwhile, planning to move the rig to Singapore and would continue to market the rig on a worldwide basis as it considers the market conditions for this kind of unit to be very attractive, the company said.
The rig was expected to start on the Reliance contract within a few weeks.
RIL had earlier announced two new discoveries in the east coast blocks. They notified the wells to the DGH (Directorate General of Hydrocarbons) and concerned authorities as a new discovery, namely Dhirubhai 31 and Dhirubhai 32, which lie in the Mahanadi Basin.
The commercial viability of the discoveries is currently under evaluation. These recent discoveries demonstrate the further upside potential of the blocks in the Krishna Godavari and Mahanadi Basins.
