Range Resources scores Shell drilling gig in Trinidad

Oil and gas company Range Resources (ASX: RRS) has landed a drilling contract with a subsidiary of oil supermajor Royal Dutch Shell for its onshore operations in Trinidad.

Range today announced its oilfield services business Range Resources Drilling Services Limited (RRDSL) had been awarded the deal to complete workover activities at one well for Shell Trinidad Central Block Limited.

According to Range, the company’s drilling rig was already on location and operations started on Monday. The work is expected to take about 10 days to complete.

The contracted rig, Rig 19, is one of four modern rigs purchased by RRDSL in 2015. It has a drilling capability of 1000m and can be used for both drilling and workover operations.

Rig 19 had been used to drill Range’s QUN 160 development well in Trinidad’s Morne Diablo field, as well as almost 30 well workovers in the Latin American country.

Range chief executive Yan Liu said the company was extremely pleased to have secured a contract with one of the largest oil and gas companies in the world, which was testament to the quality of RRDSL’s services, health and safety standards, equipment and personnel.

Based in Trinidad, RRDSL has been an established oilfield services provider for almost 15 years. It has a fleet of 13 rigs and employs around 190 staff.

Range had previously owned RRDSL then sold it to Hong Kong-based LandOcean Petroleum Corp in 2015 in a time of depressed oil prices.

The company then reacquired RRDSL in a reverse takeover in the fourth quarter of 2017, immediately embarking on an active marketing campaign resulting in the first successful contract award this year.

“We are also encouraged to see that the recent oil price recovery is having a favourable impact on activities in the sector,” Liu said.

“Having the benefit of one of the most efficient and modern rig fleets in the market, we are aiming to capitalise on this recovering market by securing further contract work and establishing a solid client base during 2018,” Liu added.

Shares in Range Resources had rocketed up 66.7% on the news by afternoon trade on Wednesday.