Iran expanding drilling rigs in Persian Gulf

The announcement was made by Managing Director of the North Drilling Company (NDC) Hedayatollah Khademi, the oil ministry's website said. He added that Sahar-1 drilling rig, which was imported last year, is ready for transfer to Persian Gulf to start drilling in Farzad-A field. Khademi also stated that the company would continued buying and constructing drilling rigs, and added that based on an order by the oil minister, "we have the purchase of 4 offshore and 10 onshore drilling rigs on the agenda". He expressed hope that the drilling rigs would start operations on schedule provided that financial resources are supplied on time. He declared the cost of each offshore and onshore drilling rig respectively 170 million dollars and 25 million dollars. "We are planning to import at least 2 offshore and 3 onshore drilling rigs this year," the official said. He referred to domestic banks' resources as one of the sources of providing money, adding last year the company borrowed 50 million euros from Bank Mellat to buy Sehar-1 drilling rig. Elsewhere in his remarks, Khademi said that North Drilling Company was an international drilling company, adding some Asian and Southern American countries have requested the company to do drilling in those countries. "We are planning to extend our activities to other countries across the globe but we prefer cooperation with neighboring countries due to proximity and better logistics," the official concluded.