EOSL claims that it won the contract amidst stiff competition from international drilling contractors like Transocean, Diamond Offshore, Pride International and Neptune Marine Drilling.
Ankur Gupta, CEO of EOSL, said: “This contract demonstrates the confidence of international oil companies in the capabilities of the Wildcat in meeting their HPHT drilling requirements.
“A six-member team from VSP visited the Essar Wildcat in March and found the rig, its crew, HSE practices, organization and management meeting its stringent requirements.”
V Ashok, director of Essar Shipping Ports & Logistics, the parent company of EOSL, said: “Essar Wildcat has demonstrated its drilling capability in India and is now poised to set benchmarks internationally. Our state-of-the-art rig has the capability to negotiate water depths of 600 metres and drill up to 7,500mt.
“We would have invested up to $1bn in this business after the delivery of the two jack up rigs.”
Essar Wildcat has recently completed the drilling campaign of Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) in the Krishna-Godavari basin block within the stipulated time frame, the company said.
