In brief
Between June 2019 and July 2021 Inderpreet Singh led, end to end, a coal bed methane drilling campaign in Jharkhand, India, for Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), as Deputy Manager with Essar. Coal bed methane is the resource Queensland calls coal seam gas (CSG). The campaign drilled 51 development wells and 52,445 metres with a 750 HP land rig. Two changes drove the result. First, inter-location moves were re-planned: loads were placed on the next drill site in advance and non-operational assets were put to work, so the average rig move fell from about 3.27 days to 1 day, a 69% cut. Second, a pilot with Exigent drill bits lifted rate of penetration to 28.7 m/hr against a 17 m/hr benchmark for 8½-inch hole. The campaign reached its highest commercial speed of 5,476 metres per rig month in December 2019, saved USD 0.6M in OpEx and finished within its two-year timeline.
What was the campaign?
A two-year coal bed methane development campaign for ONGC in Jharkhand, India, run by Essar's onshore drilling business. Operations started on 10 June 2019 with a 750 HP rig, and each well followed a 2CP casing policy. I was the focal point for the campaign from start to finish, overseeing drilling operations across 51 development wells and 52,445 metres. The campaign was scoped for 48 development wells; by its close, 51 wells and 52,445 metres had been drilled. The rig was demobilised on 18 July 2021, within the stipulated two-year timeline.
How were rig moves cut from 3.27 days to 1?
Through inter-location move (ILM) optimisation. Proposed loads were placed on the next drill site in advance, and non-operational assets were put to work, so only the 750 HP rig carrier engine and pipe loader had to move from the previous site. The rig could move in one day and spud the next well. Average move time fell from about 3.27 days to 1 day, which the campaign valued at INR 4.89 crore in profitability.
Because the contract paid by metres drilled, faster moves turned straight into revenue efficiency as well as savings for the client.
How was rate of penetration lifted to 28.7 m/hr?
To cut capital expenditure, the operations team ran a pilot with Exigent Drill Bits as a third-party provider, and I was part of it. Other bits had been balling, which cut rate of penetration, raised surface torque and forced extra trips out of hole to change bits. The benchmark rate of penetration was 17 m/hr for 8½-inch hole and 14 m/hr for 12¼-inch hole. The pilot reached 28.7 m/hr, with better operational reliability and higher returns per rig month.
What did top-hole drilling with a smaller rig change?
In November 2019, while drilling the eleventh well, I worked with my line manager on reducing rig OpEx as a continuous-improvement initiative. I proposed drilling the first phase, a 12¼-inch top hole of 100 to 250 metres, with a 260 HP rig. The campaign estimated this at one day of OpEx saved on each of the remaining 37 wells, or INR 1.52 crore in profitability.
How was the campaign controlled?
- Cost: monthly OpEx monitoring for cost-benefit analysis; AFE cost estimates per well and for the project, revised when wells needed more time or assets.
- Quality: regular inspection and maintenance to an inspection matrix; dull bit grading records and a BHA NDT register.
- Safety: drilling operating instructions for each task and a process risk register.
- Reliability: a non-productive time (NPT) report per well and mean time to repair (MTTR) tracking.
- Performance: offset well analysis with benchmark, top-quartile and median targets; lessons learned carried to the next well.
- Close-out: after-action reviews, end-of-well reports, and warm stacking of the rig with a skeleton crew at decommissioning.
Why it matters in Queensland
Queensland's CSG operators run large multi-well programs of exactly this kind. In 2026 Shell QGC announced 137 new wells around Wandoan, Chinchilla and Tara, and Shell took the investment decision on 143 backfill wells for Arrow Energy's Surat Gas Project.
Sources: Well Control Centre, Aug 2026 · Shell Australia, Aug 2026
What reviewers said
“Mr. Inderpreet was the project lead and his technical acumen coupled with excellent management of the project ensured field record runs with the main operator.”
“The ILM inter location movement optimization initiative helped in drastic improvement in cycle and commercial speeds of the well drilling process resulting in huge savings to the client as well as reducing the cost of the project.”
Sources
- Inderpreet Singh, CV (2026)
- Engineers Australia CPEng industry review, 20 February 2025 (evidence statements and reviewer comments)