Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 24
By Rahim Zamanov - Trend:
Iran has banned the import of low quality drilling rigs from foreign countries and especially China, Iranian Deputy Oil Minister Emad Hosseini said on January 24, the Iranian Mehr News Agency reported.
"The oil ministry has turned to Iranian manufacturers for the construction of drilling rigs," he said.
"There are numerous domestic manufacturers capable of producing the rigs in Iran," Hosseini added.
Iran imported over 20 drilling rigs from China in the past few years.
Abbas Aliabadi, managing director of the Iran Power Plant Projects Management Company (MAPNA), said on December 21 that Iran has bought an offshore drilling rig from China, the Mehr News Agency reported.
"The drilling rig has been purchased along with its side equipment," he added.
Iranian IRNA News Agency quoted Iranian MP Amir Abbas Soltani on November 15 as saying that domestic manufacturers are capable of building drilling rigs which cost 600 trillion rials (about $24 million) less than importing the Chinese made equivalent.
"Each Chinese made drilling rig is imported for about 1700 trillion rials, while building the same rig domestically with higher quality costs about 1100 trillion rials," he noted.
It seems that the agreement which was signed last year with the Jahad-e Daneshgahi to build 14 drilling rigs domestically has been annulled, he added.
Some brokers and profiteers easily circumvent the law for supporting domestic production and import Chinese made drilling rigs just for the sake of more profit, he said.
Nearly two years ago on July 19, 2011, Iran's oil ministry website quoted Deputy Oil Minister Hamdollah Mohammadnejad as saying that the country reached self-sufficiency in building onshore drilling rigs.
At that time, Mohammadnejad said that five domestic companies were manufacturing onshore drilling rigs through reverse engineering and indigenizing the required technology.