New Drilling Rig - July 2004

The "Lamborghini" of rigs offers improved flexibility and cost efficiency

In the newest addition to their state-of-the-art fleet of rigs and support equipment, Mitchell Drilling Corporation have acquired the latest model in the Soilmec range of rigs – the G-55 Model.

A "brother" unit to the larger G-102 model that Mitchell's have been successfully deploying for over 3 years, the G-55 will provide added flexibility to meet the specific needs of a variety of vertical drilling assignments.

The G-55 is ideal for coal bed methane (CBM) production wells and water wells. Similarly, it is well suited for shallow oil and gas drilling and to produce large diameter vent holes for the mining industry.

Especially made to order for Mitchell Drilling by Soilmec in Piacenza, Italy, the technology and innovation implicit in the G-55 is such that it is often described as the Lamborghini of drilling rigs.

It's telescopic mast extends to 23.8 metres and is capable of handling Range 2 drill pipe and Range 3 casing, with a total capacity of 55,000 kilograms. Apart from it's potential in a range of conventional drilling scenarios, these specifications allow for it's successful application in oil field projects.

Ideal for use in CBM drilling, the G55 offers real savings as it allows the use of oilfield Range 3 casing over the standard 6m lengths.

"This is a genuine investment by Mitchell Drilling to offer a unit that can provide real savings to our clients and we see a power of work in the market that it can do more efficiently than anything else around", said Nathan Mitchell, Managing Director of Mitchell Drilling.

The unit's innovative qualities also extend to its safety, environmental management and operating technologies.

First, the unit occupies a small footprint relative to it's superior performance which means lower lease costs for clients and less environmental disturbance.

Second, the G-55 has a number of automated features which make it an efficient operating unit, however the automatic rod handler is not only an efficiency deliverer, it ensures a greater degree of safety for workers on the rig.

Finally, the rig delivers a significant array of high performance equipment as part of it's modular design that combined with it's manoeuvrability, really does echo the comparison with the automotive legend and it's regional neighbour in Northern Italy, Lamborghini.

"Keeping one step ahead of what is best practice in terms of rig technology has always been an important goal for us at Mitchell Drilling.
"The G-55 offers such a powerful package that we are proud to be able to commission this unit and can't wait to demonstrate it's punch when it gets it out in the field", Mr Mitchell said.

The unit offers a depth capacity of 1200 metres and uses 3.5 inch Range 2 drill pipe. The Ingersoll-Rand compressor is deck mounted and operates to 1250 cmf/350 psi.

The G-55 also offers a modular, trailerised mud system and a 9"/3000 psi blow-out preventer stack. The mud pump is a Tulsa 441 kW Triplex unit and the generator set is a Cummins rated at 200KVA.