Before the Rig Arrives: Planning an Onshore Mobilisation
A planning guide to site readiness, transport coordination and clear responsibilities before a drilling rig reaches its next location.
A mobilisation schedule becomes useful when it connects equipment movement with site readiness, people and clear decisions. Before a drilling unit reaches a location, the operator, contractor and supporting service providers should agree what must be ready and who will confirm it.
Define the readiness milestones
Separate the planned arrival of equipment from the later milestones for assembly, inspection and acceptance. Rigging up involves positioning and assembling rig equipment and preparing it for drilling. Equipment arrival alone should therefore not be treated as confirmation that operations can begin.
Bring site information into the discussion
Prepare the approved site layout and identify the people responsible for confirming access, ground conditions, working areas, utilities and emergency access. Record outstanding information and the date by which it must be resolved. Site-specific engineering and safety reviews determine the actual requirements.
Coordinate transport and supporting services
Ask the logistics team to identify route constraints, delivery sequencing, unloading arrangements and the supporting resources required at each stage. Discuss how weather or access changes will be communicated and who has authority to revise the plan.
Use a shared responsibility list
A simple planning register can record each deliverable, its owner, required date, evidence of completion and open actions. Keep the operator, drilling contractor and other service providers aligned on interfaces such as power, water, accommodation and communications.
Agree the handover
Before mobilisation, define how readiness will be reviewed, how exceptions will be recorded and who will accept each stage. Update the schedule when an underlying assumption changes, rather than keeping a date that no longer reflects site conditions.
For a mobilisation discussion with Shivganga Drillers, share your proposed location, target programme, site-readiness status and scope of responsibilities. These details help frame a practical project review.
Company photographs of Rig 54 illustrate this planning article; they do not document a current mobilisation. This is a planning overview, not a rig-up procedure.
Background: OSHA Oil and Gas eTool: Rigging Up, used for general terminology.