The 6030-tonne multi-purpose vessel Kochnev arrived at the port this morning and will be unloading the disassembled Oil Drilling & Exploration (Borneo) Pty Ltd Rig 41 for the next three days or so.

Pieces of the rig are being transported by road to the site of the onshore Pohokura production station at Motunui, where OD & E will be using it for drilling three deviated onshore production wells and a water disposal well on behalf of Pohokura operator Shell Todd Oil Services. Total deviated length of these wells could be up to 7km, with about 2.5km offshore.

The rig has been imported from Batam, Indonesia, and is the largest and most capable land rig ever employed in New Zealand. The assembled rig weighs about 1500 tonnes and stands about 60m tall. Drilling operations are scheduled to start later this quarter 2005 and could take up to a year to complete.

STOS has not released exact figures for the worth of the contracts, though three long-reach deviated wells could easily cost NZ$30 million or more.