The rig is 55m tall and represents a significant achievement for Enerdrill staff.
‘This is a pretty big event for us,’ chief commercial officer Shane Jones said.
Two years ago, a few men from different fields in the mining industry started the business Enerdrill at the old abattoir site on Lakes Road. They hoped to tap into the lucrative drilling market.
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READ NOW‘Australia is about 10 years behind the US in terms of the development of its unconventional oil and gas resources,’ Mr Jones said.
‘There are over 2000 drill rigs located in North America and less than 15 large rigs in Australia.
‘Two of these large Australian rigs are owned by Enerdrill.’
The company started with two smaller rigs and imported the 55m, 800 tonne rig from Canada before Christmas. It was fully refurbished and staff hope it will be transported to the north-west for drilling. It will take 57 truckloads to transport it.
Mr Jones said there was a huge demand for rigs and it was good a WA company was supplying some of them.
‘This is the first WA company, as most of the others are American,’ he said.
‘We have a few WA investors and we hope to keep the business local.
‘We have 15 to 20 staff, many who live in Mandurah.’