About 60% of the drilling rigs of the National Iranian Drilling Company need to be upgraded, the vice president of NIDC said.
“The NIDC has 73 drilling rigs that are operating in different regions of the country,” ISNA also quoted Mehran Makvandi as saying.
“Currently, around 80% of the parts needed by the drilling industry are produced by local manufacturers, and we hope to be able to supply the rest of the requirements with the help of domestic companies as well,” he added.
Makvandi noted that more than 22,000 parts used by NIDC have been indigenized and the localization of the rest is also expected to be done soon.
NIDC draws on the capacity and potential of domestic firms in indigenizing parts and equipment for the key oil and gas sector.
Indigenized equipment include blowout preventers, traction motors, drilling fluid recycling systems, mission centrifugal pumps, top drives and drilling rig pressure systems.
The company has played a key role in drilling exploratory and development wells in various oil and gas fields. There are tens of drilling rigs in the oil and gas fields off the Persian Gulf and Sea of Oman.
NIDC, a subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company, collaborates with 230 local firms to indigenize drilling equipment.
Besides drilling, it provides 30% of technical services to the oil industry, namely well logging, cementing and acidizing, drill stem test, well testing, training, development and general services.
Iran is self-reliant in repairing offshore drilling rigs. In the past, platforms were sent to other countries for repairs, but now it is done inside the country with the help of Iranian engineers.
Domestic maintenance of the equipment has helped save about $6 million for each drilling rig.
According to NIDC, drawing on domestic firms’ expertise and using indigenous goods and services are among the company’s high priorities for promoting knowledge-based firms.
The global oilfield equipment market is forecast to reach $144.4 billion by 2027, according to a report by Reports and Data.
Demand for oilfield equipment has been relatively high over the past decade because of increasing oil and gas extraction and oilfield activities globally.
Rising gas consumption is a significant factor driving demand for shale gas. Also, technological advancement in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing have enabled the economic viability of shale gas production and accessibility to better and deeper shale gas deposits.
