US-based Columbia Industries, a company involved in the design, engineering and manufacturing of custom rig moving systems, has announced its biggest single order for a multiple pad drilling project from Abu Dhabis National Drilling Company (NDC)
The rigs will be used on the Upper Zakum man-made islands. The UAE order comprises a custom application of seven rigs in three different modules - drill, mud and power. This customised order offers a diverse method of moving rigs to and from well sites.
Abu Dhabi’s Zakum Development Company (ZADCO) is working on the enormous expansion of drilling and production to achieve its goal to produce 750,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil by 2015. In order to achieve the ramp up in production, ZADCO is shifting from traditional offshore platform production to a network of four artificial islands (three satellites and one main central island), from which greater production has been anticipated.
Drilling reach will be extended from 10,000 feet to around 30,000 feet from the new islands using ZADCO shareholder ExxonMobil’s extended reach drilling (ERD) technology.
“Columbia's custom rig moving systems are durable in any climate, weather conditions, and soil strength, from the icy planes of Alaska to the sandy islands of the Arabian Sea,” said Columbia Industries president and chief executive officer, Saj Shapiro.
Columbia has sold its rigs to clients across the globe, including in the US, Canada, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
