MEIL expedites World Highest Capacity oil featured rig delivery to ONGC

By    Debdulal Pahari

  New Delhi : Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Limited (MEIL) has expedited the delivery of rigs and the handing over of a 2,000-HP land drilling rig to the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Rajahmundry asset, in Bhimavaram, Rajahmundry, covering oil & gas prospects in the east and west Godavari Districts. This is a state-of-the-art indigenous oil rig with the latest and best in class features in the world. This 2,000-HP rig can give a performance equal to a 3,000-HP traditional rig. This indigenous rig is being operated successfully, and it can drill up to 6,000 metres (6 km) deep into the earth.

As of now, the MEIL has supplied 10 land drilling rigs. While three of them are already operational, other seven rigs are in final stage of installation and commissioning and these rigs will be operational in 4 – 5 weeks across various onshore ONGC Fields.

At the same time, the MEIL has supplied 1st lot of five workover rigs to the Mehsana, Ahmedabad, Ankleshwar, Agartala and Shibsagar ONGC fields. These 1st lot five rigs are ready to operational. 2nd lot of 5 Rigs are also under advanced stage of manufacturing.

The MEIL received an order for 47 rigs from the ONGC in a competitive bidding. Out of these, 20 are workover rigs, and 27 are land drilling rigs. The 20 workover rigs include 12 of 50-MT capacity, four rigs are of 100 MT, and the remaining four have a capacity of 150 MT each. Of the 27 land drilling rigs, two are mobile hydraulic rigs with a capacity of 1,500 HP, and 17 are AC VFD rigs with 1,500 HP capacity. Six others are AC VFD rigs having a capacity of 2,000 HP, and two others are HT VFD rigs of 2,000 HP.

The MEIL will be manufacturing and supplying all the rigs to the ONGC assets in the Assam (Sibsagar, Jorahat), Andhra Pradesh (Rajahmundry), Gujarat (Ahmedabad, Ankaleshwar, Mehasana and Cambay), Tripura (Agartala) and Tamilnadu (Karaikal)

These rigs are built with full automation in order to reduce the down time on account of safety & maintenance. These rigs are of the first of their kind to induct into the ONGC drilling fleet. These rigs, in the coming days will be the game changers in the drilling wells technology, which is a need of the hour.

In spite of COVID-19, MEIL is committed to complete the project with its expertise, dedication and hard work. The problem of getting components from global suppliers is still persisting, however, the supply chain of the industry is slowly recovering which is helping in the timely delivery of the rigs.

Speaking on this occasion, K. Satya Narayana, Technical Head, Rigs Project, MEIL, said, “As the Covid-19 is in endemic stage, we have expedited the manufacturing of rigs and their deliveries as promised. The company is playing a vital role in the energy sector, both upstream and downstream. These state-of-the-art oil rigs will have the world’s best and most advanced hydraulic technology features. As the energy prices soar, the advanced rigs are very crucial for Indian energy sector to drill the oil and gas wells faster and increase the oil and gas production for domestic use. MEIL is the first private player in India in manufacturing highly efficient oil drilling rigs with indigenous technology under the “Make in India” and “Atmanirbhar Bharat” initiatives.”

MEIL manufactured world’s highest capacity featured rig . Rig Features:

a) The C4R1 is a 2,000-HP capacity advanced rig manufactured by MEIL under ‘Make in India’ & ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’.

b) It is developed and manufactured with Indigenous technology.

c) This rig works on world’s first of its kind automated hydraulic system.

d) Most significant feature is that A Single engineer can operate entire rig.

e) The rig is equipped with a computerized automated driller’s cabin

f) This rig drastically reduces maintenance cost

g) The rig drills the wells very fast

h) It supports systems mud system, power system, driller’s floor and hoist & rotating equipment

i) The depth it can drill into the earth is a 6,000 metres (6 km)

j) Its a portable rig that can easily be dismantled and assembled again

k) The rig drills under high pressures and high temperatures.

l) It is equipped with high safety features like blowout prevention technology and fire accidents.

Equipment Description and Key points of press meet:

1)  The MEIL has manufactured a rig with world’s highest capacity for the ONGC. The rig is operational and is active in exploration of the oil and gas.

2) The entire rig is manufactured with indigenous technology in India, conforming to American Petroleum Institute (API) standards.

3) The rig tower and other related equipment were manufactured in MEIL’s manufacturing facilities at Hyderabad in conformity with API standards.

4) The key components of the rig system are:  Top drive, Automatic pipes handing system, Power system, Drilling floor, Mud system and Blowout preventer.

5) A 60-foot-long power catwalk is an important instrument in this rig. This is used for taking pipes from ground to tower, which is used first time in India.

6) The power generators supply power to entire rigs for its needs such as mechanical, hydraulic etc,. to run the drilling operations. One extra power generator would be kept as a standby to avoid any power interruptions.

7) The power generators can function with gas and diesel plants and supply it to rigs through a power control room.

8) Rig system consists of a separate chemical storage unit to prepare the mud, which is pumped into the well to absorb the elements in the well.

9) The mud system will balance the high pressure inside the well and is also used to control the blowouts by pumping mud into well.

10). This rig has a big mud-preparation unit.

11). The Rig has two pressure pumping units with a capacity of 7,500 PSA, which is used for the first time in India.

12) Once mud and cuttings are extracted from the well, the mud-cleaner purifies the mud. If there are any gases, degasser will separate them.

13) Now drilling operations are being carried out for 26-inch-diameter well.

14) This rig is equipped with blowout preventers with 5,000 PSA capacity, which is used for the first time in India.

15) This rig consists of a robotic arm (stringer) to handle the pipes automatically. This is used for the first time in the world for land rig operations.

16) Top drive is another important equipment to rotate the stringer.

17) The MEIL also entered in to oil exploration and acquired oil fields in Assam (Laxmijan) and Guajrat (Kambel) and has already started the drilling at the wells.

18) The company is operating two most modern rigs in western fields.

19) As part of contractual agreement, the MEIL is operating C1R4 rig for one year, and helping the ONGC in rig operations.

20) The MEIL got global orders from Mexico to supply the high-end and  high-capacity rigs.

21) With the highest level of automation involving robotic technology, only one person can operate the rig. The rig works in two shifts with 10 persons for each shift.

22) This is the only rig in the world that is fully automatic

23) The MEIL’s rigs can work in 200 C degree temperature and at 15,000 PSI well pressure

24) Conventional rigs can operate only at 7,500 PSI well pressure

25) These rigs are highly safe and more productive with Gen-X technology and are economic compared to

 conventional rigs.