Bentec wins contracts for rig construction, top drive systems

Bentec recently announced three major multimillion-dollar contracts. Under the first contract, the company will build its first complete drilling rig for offshore operations in the Caspian Sea, off the coast of Azerbaijan. The rig will be built for Nobel Oil. The offshore drilling package will include the company’s recently launched 750-ton top drive and new 3000-hp drawworks. The rig will be installed on an existing platform in early 2016. This contract award builds on Bentec’s 2013 sale of a 500-ton top drive to an operator in the Caspian Sea.

In a second contract, Bentec said, it has been contracted to manufacture three 320-ton cluster slider rigs for Russian joint stock company Samotlorneftepromkhim. By reducing each rig’s weight and cabling by 150 tons and 6,500 m, respectively, the time needed for assembly, disassembly and rig moves has been reduced. Consequently, manufacturing and transportation costs have also been decreased.

The rigs will be manufactured at Bentec’s subsidiary in Tyumen, Russia. Commissioning of the three rigs is expected to be complete towards the end of this year.

In the third contract, Bentec will supply a Russian customer with 13 new-generation TD-350-XT top drive systems. This marks the second-largest top drive order in Bentec’s history. All units will be manufactured at the company’s German facility in Bad Bentheim and are scheduled for delivery between May and October 2015.

“We are delighted to have secured such substantial orders in these difficult times for our industry and are very much looking forward to working with these clients,” Bentec CEO Dirk Schulze said. “These new contracts send out a strong signal to the market, not only in Russia but beyond, and are testament to our strategy of concentrating on providing premium quality at competitive prices, whilst reducing the total cost of ownership for our clients.”