MEIL makes India's first hydraulic rigs

Hyderabad: CITY based Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Limited (MEIL) achieved another milestone by manufacturing rigs for the oil and gas sector with indigenous know-how. The rigs designed with advanced hydraulic technology begun operations in the Kalol oil field near Ahmedabad, Gujarat, on Wednsday, P Rajesh Reddy, vice-president, MEIL, said.

These rigs made with 1,500 HP capacity can easily drill oil wells to a depth of 4,000 meters (4 kilometers) from the surface. These rigs can work for the next 40 years. MEIL has taken up rig manufacturing as part of the Centre's Make in India initiative, he added.

MEIL has bagged the order to manufacture and supply 47 drilling rigs worth Rs 6, 000 crore in a tendering process from ONGC in 2019. It has deployed the first rig of this order in an oil field near Ahmedabad and successfully commenced the operations. The remaining 46 rigs are in various stages of manufacturing.

This is for the first time manufacturing rigs on such a large scale in the private sector as part of the 'Make in India' initiative. Out of these rigs, 20 are work-over rigs, and 27 are land drilling rigs. The work-over rigs are used to extract the deposits from already drilled oil wells and enhance productivity and repair the well. Ordinary oil rigs do not serve this purpose. The state-of-the-art land drilling rigs used to drill deep into the earth to existing oil reserves. These rigs can dig from 1,500 meters to 6,000 meters depth. The regular rigs can dig up to only 1,000 meters.

Of the 20 work-over rigs, 12 are automated with a capacity of 50 MT, and four are with a capacity of 100 MT. Another four are with 150 MT capacity rigs. Of the 27 land drilling rigs, two are mobile hydraulic rigs with a capacity of 1,500 HP each, while 17 are with a capacity of 1,500 HP AC VFD each. The other six rigs are with a capacity of 2,000 HP each. MEIL has designed two more rigs with a capacity of 2,000 HP each.

These 2000 HP capacity rigs can drill up to 6,000 meters (6 km). This is the first time such capability rigs have produced in India. Of the total 47 rigs, the first rig is fully operational in the Kalol oil field in Gujarat, and the second rig drilling operations will begin in a few days. The preliminary preparations for this already began. Of the 46 rigs currently under manufacturing, two rigs are in the assembly stage in the Rajahmundry oil field in Andhra Pradesh. MEIL will supply the rest to ONGC-related oil fields in Assam, Tripura and Tamil Nadu.