Indian Oil Firm Moves 36 Offshore Drilling Rigs Ahead of Monsoon Season

Tuesday, June 13, 2023

India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has recently moved 36 offshore drilling rigs to new locations in advance of the monsoon season, with assistance from ABL.

"ABL have assisted as tow master and marine warranty service (MWS) provider on the rig moves, which equals the record of 36 pre-monsoon rig moves from 2021. The moves were conducted using ABL’s specialist team of mariners supported by structural and geotechnical engineers, in close cooperation with ONGC’s in-house rig move cell," ABL said Tuesday.

Each of the 36 rigs were placed at their respective monsoon locations before the onset of the seasonal adverse weather conditions. The combined total distance traveled for all rigs was 3,680 nautical miles.

ABL acted for ONGC’s underwriters, and their appointed consultants, for the duration of the rig-moving campaign. Under the agreement, ABL provided marine warranty services to ONGC’s fleet of jack-ups and mobile offshore production units in Indian waters.

"Moving 36 rigs in such a short time frame to new locations before the onset of the southwest monsoon is quite an achievement. Rig moves in the Indian offshore areas, even during normal weather conditions, pose huge challenges to both the tow master and MWS services that must manage environmental, tidal, bathymetric and soil challenges. However, the joint ABL and ONGC team made this a safe and well-executed campaign,” says Captain Stephen Craig – Middle East and India Operations Manager and ABL’s Jack-up Rig Steering Group leader.

In total, ABL has assisted with more than 100 rig moves offshore India during the previous season from September 2022 to June 2023.



Categories: Drilling Activity Asia Drilling Rigs

Related Stories

TotalEnergies Makes Additional Gas Discovery at Harald Field in Danish North Sea

Chinese Firm Takes Minority Share from SBM Offshore in Mero Field FPSO

Impending Shortage of Jackups within Ageing Asia Pacific Fleet

Current News

Did You Know? AI-Enhanced Botnets Become Ever Evasive

Enersol to Acquire Deep Well Services in $223M Deal

New Industry Alliance Targets Tech Supply for Multi-MW Tidal Energy Projects

Sweden Greenlights One, Rejects 13 Offshore Wind Farms

Subscribe for OE Digital E‑News