Azernews.Az

By Leman Mammadova

Turan Drilling & Engineering Company LLC, which is a joint venture of Azerbaijan’s SOCAR AQS and KCA Deutag international oilfield services company, will commence drilling operations in early May.

Ramin Isayev, chief director of SOCAR AQS, made the remarks at a briefing in Baku on the activities of the enterprise. He also said that it is planned to participate in new regional projects in the future.

"We participate in various tenders in order to expand activities not only in Azerbaijan, but also in the countries of the region - Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan," Isayev said.

The company is currently conducting drilling operations on 5 platforms at 4 oil and gas fields - Guneshli, West Absheron, Umid and Bulla.

Earlier, BP awarded $500 million extension to its drilling and engineering contract to the Turan Drilling & Engineering. The contract covers offshore operations and maintenance activities for seven platform rigs operated by BP including the Central, East and West Azeri, Deepwater Gunashli, West Chirag, Chirag and Shah Deniz installations. The initial term of the contract is for five years with two one-year extension options

Established by signing Memorandum of Association between KCA Deutag and SOCAR AQS last year, Turan Drilling & Engineering provides services for drilling and engineering of oil and gas wells in the Caspian region and certain parts of Central Asia.

The UK based company KCA Deutag, operating in Azerbaijan since 1995, offers design, construction support, platform services, commissioning and brownfield engineering services.

BP is one of the world's most renowned oil and gas suppliers and its operations cover the safe development and production of key energy sources. The company has been managing large projects for exploration, development and transportation of oil and gas fields in Azerbaijan since 1992.

The company is the operator of ACG, Shah Deniz, Shallow Water Absheron Peninsula, Shafag-Asiman and Gobustan fields.