Domestic drilling industry to approach operators with cost sharing plea

Companies say their costs have escalated after government declared norms for drilling crews.

With costs spiralling across the petroleum drilling industry — both globally and locally — domestic operators, via the International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC), will be approaching contractors with a request to share the mounting burden.

“Apart from costs being incurred due to the SOPs (standard operating procedures) we have to follow due to the pandemic, drilling companies also have to pay their crew as this period is treated as ‘crew on board’. Due to this, the cost has escalated for the industry by more than 50 per cent (of the total cost usually incurred) in the last three months,”