CanElson announces contract for new $8-million bi-fuel drilling rig

摘要

CanElson Drilling Inc. has announced a long-term contract for a new $8-million bi-fuel (natural gas and diesel) drilling rig. President and chief executive officer Randy Hawkings stated, "Given our modern fleet of deep capacity drilling rigs and our growing bi-fuel capability on our drilling rigs, we expect to continue outperforming the industry and contracting new build rigs as we move forward." The new CanElson bi-fuel drilling rig will have three diesel engines capable of operating on a combination of natural gas and diesel fuel or on diesel fuel only, in the event that natural gas is either unavailable or becomes uneconomic. In bi-fuel mode, natural gas displaces a significant amount of the diesel fuel that would otherwise be consumed. CanElson expects that the displacement of diesel fuel will result in significant fuel cost savings for bi-fuel drilling rigs.