Malaysian operator equips two rigs with offline capabilities

Malaysian rig owner Velesto Energy has upgraded two jack-up drilling rigs with offline capabilities to reduce days spent on a well along with drilling costs while also curbing emissions.

Velesto revealed on Wednesday that it had completed the offline capabilities upgrading works for NAGA 5 and NAGA 6 rigs, making them “the first Malaysian jack-up drilling rigs to be equipped with offline capabilities.”

The rig owner noted that the upgrades would increase the competitiveness of the rigs during contract bidding.

Megat Zariman Abdul Rahim, President of Velesto, remarked: “This is the first time that Velesto has carried out upgrades for its jack-up rigs. Given the current upward trend in the drilling segment, the successful completion could not be timelier.

“It also reflects our commitment to our clients in driving performance through operational excellence while ensuring the highest level of safety.”

Furthermore, the Malaysian company explains that these offline capabilities on the two jack-up rigs will reduce the total time spent on wells as the rigs are able to do multiple scopes of activities while drilling.

As a result, this will help to bring down the overall drilling project costs for the firm’s clients and indirectly reduce the industry’s emission footprint with fewer rig days per well.

“The offline capabilities will further strengthen Velesto’s value creation as a local company on par with global players, offering sustainable competitive advantages,” concluded Rahim.

The company’s NAGA 5 and NAGA 6 rigs secured work orders earlier this year with PTTEP HK Offshore and Petronas Carigali, respectively.

The NAGA 5 rig started its operations in July 2022 while NAGA 6 is expected to begin operations towards the end of August 2022 within Malaysia upon the completion of the upgrades.

These two rigs are premium independent-leg cantilever jack-ups with a drilling depth capability of 30,000 feet. Velesto’s NAGA 5 has a rated operating water depth of 400 feet while NAGA 6 has a rated operating water depth of 375 feet.