Essar Group's oilfields services arm, Essar Oilfields Services India Ltd (EOSIL), looks to operationalise about seven rigs by next fiscal as it sees consistency coming in the drilling rig operations.
The company's top officials informed that with the existing four contracts from the public and private sector explorers, Essar Oilfields will achieve a turnover of Rs 400 crore by fiscal 2019.
"We expect to close the current fiscal at around Rs 290 crore and expect significant growth during the next fiscal as we add more rigs in operations for onshore. By the next fiscal, we should be having 7-8 rigs in the next fiscal," Rajeev Nayyer, CEO, EOSIL, told
Nayyer attributed the growth to the intensified exploration activity by public and private sector oil majors.
"Unlike in the past, when contracts wouldn't come continuously, we see some positive change in the environment. We are getting more contracts with consistency, which is not only adding to the revenue growth but also adding to consistent cashflows, better planning in operating expenses (opex) as well as capital expenses (capex)," Nayyer said, adding that the company is getting contracts for a time duration of six months to 2-3 years.
GAIL contract
On Wednesday, EOSIL announced securing a Rs 28-crore contract from Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) to drill three firm plus two optional wells in Gujarat’s Cambay basin. Drilling for the project is expected to commence in April-May 2018.
"We are right now working for Oil India Ltd (OIL), Mercator Petroleum and ONGC, which will start in Bokaro soon. The latest one with GAIL is a one-year contract," said Nayyer.
EOSIL will be using the Essar Rig MR01 (1000 HP) to drill the wells for GAIL. The MR01 is the latest addition to the EOSIL fleet of rigs and is currently drilling for Mercator Petroleum. After completing this assignment, the rig will be deployed for the GAIL project.
In addition to its 15 land rigs, EOSIL also operates the offshore rig, Essar Wildcat, which is a semi-submersible rig capable of drilling in water depths of up to 1,600 feet and a drilling depth of up to 25,000 feet.
Since May 2017, this rig has been deployed on a three-year contract with ONGC in the Krishna-Godavari Basin on the eastern coast of India.