- Five Drilling Rigs Ordered
- 100 New Technical Staff Hired
Green Dragon Gas Ltd., the Chinese coal bed methane (“CBM”) business, announces the launch of its own in-house drilling and technical services division and that it has placed an order for five CBM-specific drilling rigs. The services division, which will be known as Greka Technical Services, is to be based in Zhengzhou which is being established as the operational hub for the Company’s upstream operations. The five technically advanced CBM rigs are being manufactured in the United States to the Company’s own specifications and are expected to be delivered in the second quarter of 2008.
Greka Technical Services will operate as an independent profit center within the Green Dragon Gas group. To date 100 local technical staff have been hired to man the rigs and are expected to join the Company when the rigs are delivered. In addition, selected key experienced management personnel will be hired prior to the upcoming Chinese New Year, to ensure a successful launch in the second quarter of 2008.
Mr. Randeep S. Grewal, Chairman and CEO, comments,
“The launch of the Greka Technical Services division represents a further significant milestone in the Company’s continued progress towards being a vertically integrated gas supplier.
“The CBM drilling rigs, together with the additional experienced technical staff, will enhance our control over our drilling programme and assist in improving our drilling efficiency and productivity, whilst also ensuring that we control our exposure to the increasing costs of contract drilling services.
“We expect to focus on setting up and structuring the division in the first half of 2008, with the intention for it to become fully operational in the second half of the year.”