Replies to post #15655 on Empire Energy Corporation Intl. (fka EEGC)

[BobSinCA]

Seem like excellent points, although rigman has to speak to the technical points and whether these rigs meet Australian certification requirements.

So, why has EEGC elected to purchase a brand new GEFCO rig?

[rigman]

I have never claimed that there were not other rigs out there that would do the job, just that the Gefco rig as specified still needs a lot of equipment. Most of these rigs you found would be a bit on the small size to drill Bellveue and Thunderbolt. The problem with all these rigs are that they are in North America and not built to Australian Standards. Considerable time and money would be required getting them up to comply with Australian Standards (particularly the electrical standard) The one thing that NONE of these rig with is crew and this could be a big issue. Buying a rig and bringing it into Australia and getting it to comply with Australian Standards will take IMO at least 6 months from when the money is paid. Given that the RO does not close now until the end of July and assume all the paperwork can be completed by the middle of August this would mean that it would be at least mid Feb 2011 before drilling could start.