Eurasia Drilling spending over $200 mln in 2014 to expand rig fleet
MOSCOW. March 27 (Interfax) - Eurasia Drilling Company will add 14 new drilling rigs to its fleet this year at a cost of $200 million-$230 million, Eurasia Drilling CFO Richard Anderson said in a conference call.
The rigs, which will be used to tap structures with highly viscous oil, will cost about $16 million each, he said.
They will be built by manufacturers in China and by Russia's Uralmash.
Eurasia Drilling made prepayment for the 14 rigs, to be delivered this year, in 2013. The company plans to order another 14 rigs this year for delivery in 2014-2016 under its upgrade program.
Eurasia Drilling's rig fleet included 255 onshore drilling and sidetracking rigs. It added four new drilling rigs in 2013 and wrote off six, all of which had been in service for 22-24 years.
