At the end of the first quarter this year, Big E Drilling Co., Bellaire, Tex., completed construction of its Rig No. 5, bringing to five the number of rigs the company has working. Built new but with rebuilt components, the 1,500-hp rig has a 20,000-ft depth rating.
The rig will be used chiefly for drilling deep gas wells along the US Gulf Coast, especially in wetlands areas. Its compact design enables it to fit on smaller locations than most rigs with similar horsepower, says Big E Drilling.
Rig No. 5 is a Continental Emsco C-1 Type II featuring a Continental Emsco CRLR 142-ft mast with 1.2 million-lb capacity. The mud-processing equipment was built to work in combination with a closed-loop mud system; such systems are becoming "more prevalent" along the Gulf Coast, says Big E Drilling. To make this a complete mud system, the rig is equipped with two completely refurbished National 10P130 triplex mud pumps.
Rig No. 5 is equipped with all new tubulars from Grant Prideco and Smith International. This pipe consists of 15,000 ft of 41/2-in., 1,660 ppf G drill pipe and heavyweight drill pipe with 61/2-in. and 8-in. collars.F
