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Essar Shipping inks $121m offshore drilling contract

Essar Shipping inks $121m offshore drilling contract
Mumbai: India-based Essar Shipping clinched a $121m contract from US-based ConocoPhillips to drill 11 offshore wells in Indonesia.

Essar Shipping's semi-submersible offshore drilling unit Essar Wildcat was mobilised for the contract and is now deployed with ConocoPhillips.

“We won among the deal a field of strong competitors such as Transocean and Maersk Drilling,” said A.R. Ramakrishnan, managing director at Essar Shipping.

Ramakrishnan said that the offshore and onshore drilling business, which is a corollary to the shipping business, is adding a lot of value. The rig earns around $285,000 a day, making it a high EBIDTA-margin business.

“We will look at more of international opportunities as we plan to have a strong foothold in the Far East market,” he said. “We have done projects about a year-and-half in Vietnam, commenced in Indonesia and having dialogues in Malaysia and Indonesia.”