$2m Tow To Bring Oil Rig To N.Z.

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31977, 2 May 1969, Page 20

$2m Tow To Bring Oil Rig To N.Z.

A semi-submersible rig weighing more than 8000 tons and capable of drilling in water up to 600 ft deep is to be towed to New Zealand for appraisal drilling off the Taranaki coast.

The rig will cost s2m to be towed to New Zealand, and the first appraisal well is likely to cost about s4m. Drilling of the first well may start early in September, and other appraisal wells will be drilled if this is successful.

Zealand. movable heavy equipment on the platform itself must be dismantled and shipped separately to New Zealand and assembled again when the rig completes its ocean tow. This operation will take some three months from the end of May. “Subject to weather conditions on the voyage out, the rig may be expected off Taranaki by the end of August, in which case we would hope to make a start on drilling early in September,” said Mr Williams.

Announcing this in Wellington yesterday, the general manager of Shell BP and Todd Oil Services, Ltd (Mr H. R. Williams) said that negotiations to obtain the rig had been concluded successfully overseas..

pong, 60 feet wide and 25 feet deep. These pillars are held (together by a tubular framework and support a triangular platform with sides about 300 feet Ijong. With the drilling derrick, it weighs more than 8000 tons and is capable of drilling in water up to 600 feet deep. “The platform is equipped with drilling machinery, power plants, helicopter landing pad, and accommodation for 70 men.

The consortium had been fortunate in obtaining it at short notice because the number of those suitable for New Zealand’s requirements was extremely limited. A delay of anything up to 18 months icould have been expected. “Off-shore conditions in New Zealand demand a drilling rig of a type which can operate in high seas, strong winds and depths of water in excess of 300 feet. The particular rig under contract to Shell BP and Todd Oil Services, Ltd, is one of the latest of several owned by the South Eastern Drilling Company Inc. (Sedco), of Dallas, United States, and operated under charter to exploration companies for offshore operations in various parts of the world. Canadian Search “The drilling platform scheduled to come to New Zealand is known as Sedco 135-F and is at present searching for oil off the west coast of Vancouver Island, Canada.

“For the voyage to New

“Constructed by the Victoria Machinery Depot Company, Vancouver, the Sedco 135-F consists of three gigantic vertical hollow steel pillars, each 35 feet in diameter, with tank footings 100 feet