Core
Capabilities
Civil & Geotechnical
Webster Drilling is one of New Zealand’s largest and most experienced geotechnical drilling contractors, with projects across New Zealand, Australasia, the Pacific, Papua New Guinea and Antarctica.
Our experience spans a wide range of environments and projects — from multi-year, multi-rig contracts in remote locations and marine drilling platforms, to residential boreholes and everything in between.
We’re committed to delivering high-quality geotechnical data, maintaining strong health and safety standards, and finding practical, innovative solutions for challenging projects.
Our diverse fleet includes specialist heli-portable and rough-access rigs, supported by our Porirua workshop, where we design, modify and build equipment for specialised work using the latest CAD / CAM software and in house CNC tooling.
Rotary / Core – Heli-portable, Tracked, Tractor and man portable. – Depth up to 700m / Angle capability
Sonic Core - Heli-portable, tracked, Dual head
CPTu - Heli-portable, tracked and 15kN Ballasted rigs available
Wireline core NQ, HQ, PQ
Conventional core (various sizes)
Permafrost Coring
Vibrocore
Push / Shelby Tube
Piston Core
SPT
Lugeon Packer (hydraulic and pneumatic)
Piezometer Installation
Falling, rising and static head testing
CPTu testing (Audited to ISO 22476-1:2012/CETANZ TG6)
DPSH
Scala Penetrometer
Dilatometer / Pressuremeter testing
Environmental & Water
Webster Drilling provides water well drilling, testing and installation services across New Zealand and the Pacific.
Our experience ranges from large multi-well water supply projects to individual production bores in remote, difficult-to-access and over-water locations.
With a large fleet of specialist drilling rigs, pumps and compressors, and an experienced team ready to mobilise when needed, we have the capability to deliver projects of all sizes and in challenging environments.
We provide end-to-end project management, with a strong focus on safety, quality and minimising environmental impact.
Tracked, top-drive drilling rigs with up to 18,000kg pullback, custom built and modified to suit specific well designs and access constraints.
Down-hole hammer and mud rotary drilling across a wide range of borehole diameters and
ground conditions.
Water well casing and Johnson screen supply and installation, sized to target aquifer and yield requirements.
Pump testing and yield assessment, including extended-duration production and drawdown
testing.
Large compressor fleet, including high-output units for air-lift development and well cleaning.
Extensive backup inventories of rigs, pumps and compressors, and back-up personnel available for urgent deployment.
Energy
Introducing the Nova-1
At Webster Drilling we understand that land-based drilling is all about maximising safety and drilling efficiency, while minimising rig down time.
That’s why the Nova-1 drilling package has been carefully designed and configured for minimum hazard exposure, process efficiency, and rapid rig moves to maximise the operators uptime, without sacrificing drilling power and capability.
Webster Drilling developed the Nova-1 drilling package using our innovative engineering experience, extensive manufacturing history, and our broad spectrum of drilling knowledge. This valuable understanding has been gained from the thousands of projects we have successfully delivered to our clients throughout the world.
Webster Drilling values safe, efficient, accurate and reliable engineering design in its plant and equipment, alongside innovation, experience and integrity in its personnel. Our values and skill-sets, combined with our dedication to succeed, makes the Nova-1 a drilling package committed to delivering cost effective drilling and workover operations to our local, national and international clients.
We strive to always find the most appropriate drilling solution for our clients’ projects, minimising our impact on the environment, while keeping our staff, stakeholders and the public safe from harm.
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500,000lb Hookload & 125,000lb of thrust capability
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Fast, safe, efficient rig moves 3-4 days infield, 4-10 days site to site
(New Plymouth - Gisborne), the minimum of piloted loads (3) -
Modular design enables flexibility of rig layout
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Minimal crane operations required
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Smaller rig footprint, enabling less environmental impact and lease preparation
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Quiet operation
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Own Rig watch system, monitoring the majority of drilling parameters
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Rapid, high capability Workover and Well completion capacity
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5K & 10K BOP systems
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Fast, safe & efficient BOP handling system to reduce the crew’s exposure to crush zones
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Volant Casing Running Tool systems
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AA-GEFCO Cyber Chair Drilling system
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Digital AC mud pump control down to 1 SPM for accurate testing and fluid placement
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Compact highly mobile camp & kitchen facilities
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Automated pipe handling and assembly systems
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Blohm & Voss iron roughneck
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Reduced personnel exposure to manual procedures during tripping
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Proprietary Wiggle Steer function for accurate and efficient directional sliding operations
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Super single design, no setback
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Handheld IS Radios for crew members enabling instant communication
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Full equipment document compliance package
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Scientific & Mineral
Webster Drilling has a long and storied history of Scientific drilling in New Zealand and Antarctic, going as far back to Bain Webster's involvement in the Dry Valley Drilling Project in Antarctica in the 1970s.
Since then, our team has been at the forefront of Scientific Exploration & Drilling throughout NZ and the World.
For over 40 years we have worked closely with Scientists and universities from around the world to achieve their scientific goals.
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DVDP (Bain Webster as Driller) – 1970
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Cape Roberts, Antarctica – 1995
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Andrill – SMS, MMS – Antarctica – 1999 – 2007
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Deep Fault Drilling Project – NZ - ICDP – 2012?
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Lake Ohau Climate History (LOCH) – NZ – 2018?
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Wanganui Pliocene stratigraphic drilling project – 2014
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Hawai'i Scientific Drilling Project (HSDP) – 3500m “piggyback” geothermal core drilling – 2007
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Southland Ophiolites - Otago University – 2009
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Deep Marine (~3000m) Remote Operated Drilling – Okinawa – 2017
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Deep Ice Core – Antarctica – Various projects
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Permafrost Coring – Antarctica, Nunavat – Numerous Projects
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Lake Pukaka – Marine Sediment Piston Coring - 1997
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Lake Tutira – Marine Sediment Piston coring – 1997
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Sterile Permafrost Coring - NASA / Jet Propulsion Laboratories – Eureka, Nunavat
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Seismic
Webster Drilling is a global leader in rough-terrain, heliportable and man-portable seismic drilling.
We specialise in low footprint, low environmental impact equipment with many rigs designed in-house using our vast experience drilling shotholes in the mountians of NZ, the jungles of Papua New Guinea and Indonesia, the deserts of Iran, Turkey and Australia, and the sea ice and ice shelfs of Antarctica.
Our fleet includes truck, tractor, trailer and skid-mounted rigs, as well as helicopter and people-portable systems, allowing us to adapt to a wide range of terrain and access requirements.
As of 2019, Webster Drilling has completed 222,814 shotpoints and 2,136,266 metres of Seismic drilling globally across many hundreds of projects.
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Engineering
From the beginning, Webster Drilling & Exploration’s key area of expertise has been developing new ideas and taking on challenging projects.
At the heart of the company is a fully equipped mechanical and fabrication workshop, supported by a team of highly experienced engineers, mechanics and designers.
Over more than 40 years, WDE has designed and manufactured drilling rigs, heli-portable air compressors, grouting equipment, heli-portable ancillary equipment, rock anchoring and micropiling equipment, along with many other bespoke, sometimes one-off, solutions.
Many of these machines have gone on to be produced in larger numbers and continually refined, with WDE’s contract drilling experience driving ongoing innovation, improvements and new designs.
3 x Lathes
CNC Plasma cutting
Welding booth & Equipment for all standard alloys.
Painting booth
Mill
CAD/CAM 3d design and simulation software
Hydraulics test bench
Thread cutting
In addition to this, we maintain a network of trusted suppliers where we can outsource specialist services such as machining, gear cutting and hydraulics
Our Staff have a broad range of skills which include;
Mechanical Engineers
Toolmaking
Hydraulics
Fabrication
3D CAD Design & Manufacturing