When buying a rig all you get is the basic rig with none of the equipment required to actually drill a well and the rig would cost nearly as much to equip as it would to but. The type of equipment I am refering to is things like:
BOP's
Mud pumps
Mud Pits
Drill pipe
Drill collars
Accumulator unit
Drilling line
Tongs
Handling tools (slips, elevators etc)
Forklift
Etc etc
All this equipment comes as part of the package when you hire a rig like the Hunt Rig. The other thing you don't get when you buy a rig is the systems and procedures required to operate and maintain it, I am refering to things like
Safety Managment Systems
Standard Operating Procedures
Planned Maintainance Systems
Preventative Maintainance Systems
These all take considrable time to develope and put in place. If you hire a rig all that is needed is a simple Bridging Document. The other consideration about buying a rig is where are you going to get the people required to operate and manage it? IMO Empire do not have the resources or ability to manage this type of operation. Another thing to consider is that if it was so easy to buy and manage your own rig why do none of the other operators, including companies like SANTOS, Wodside, BP etc) own their own rigs. If Empire buy a rig in my estimation it would take an absolute minimum of 6 months from when the deal was signed until spudding the first well and more likly it would take a year.
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