The company’s managing director, Abdollah Mousavi, made the statement in Ahvaz on Tuesday on the sidelines of a ceremony to inaugurate a drilling rig (Fath 72), ISNA reported.
Referring to the rig’s technical specifications, Mousavi said the system, built at a cost of $12 million, can dig up to 20,000 feet (6,000 meters), according to Financial Tribune.
It is 46 meters tall and its static load-carrying capacity is 500,000 kilograms. It is equipped with three pumps and a 500-ton top drive, a mechanical device that provides clockwise torque to the drill string to drill a borehole.
According to the official, the Tehran-based Academic Center for Education, Culture and Research completed the project in four years.
ACECR is a public non-governmental higher education institution established in 1980. It is involved in innovative research and development projects in scientific and tech areas plus real-world applications.
“Fath 72 is the second rig manufactured by ACECR. The first (Fath 71) was delivered to NIDC in 2018 and the third (Fath 73) will be commissioned in 2021.”
Market Share
The official said his company accounts for 65% of the domestic drilling market share. Experts and informed sources say drilling and exploration has never been more challenging as new areas are being drilled, and this shows why drilling equipment must operate in harsher and remote environments.
NIDC procures domestic goods and services in the framework of its policy to promote local knowledge-based companies.
The company undertakes most drilling work in the country and has drilled 4,489 onshore and offshore oil and gas wells in four decades. The NIDC boss said 4,092 wells were drilled on land and 397 in deep waters.
“Drilling projects have included 2,372 development wells, 137 exploratory wells and 104 appraisal wells. A total of 1,876 wells were repaired over 40 years."
The company has played a key role in drilling exploratory and development wells in the Azadegan Oilfield in Khuzestan near the Iraqi border and in South Pars, the world's largest gas field shared by Iran and Qatar in the Persian Gulf.
NIDC has undertaken drilling work in Yaran, Yadavaran and Darkhoin oil fields in Khuzestan, and the Azar oil field in Ilam Province.