Tri-Valley Corp. of Bakersfield, Calif., said last week that its drilling subsidiary, Great Valley Drilling Co. LLC, has purchased a rig that will be devoted to drilling geothermal wells in Nevada.
The company said it believes the rig is the first to be devoted to the geothermal business in Nevada. It's capable of drilling 10,000 feet and was purchased from Equipment 2000 of Fallon. Terms weren't disclosed.
The drilling company will be based at Fallon and overseen by Gary Borgna, the previous owner of the rig who will become general manager of Great Valley Drilling Co.
Executives of Tri-Valley said they plan to add a production service rig and another drilling rig to the Great Valley Drilling fleet as soon as possible to meet the demand from the geothermal industry.
Tri-Valley holds oil-and-gas leases on 17,000 acres in the Oil Springs area some 40 miles southwest of Ely and also may use the new drilling rig for exploration in that area.
