Caspian Drilling Company signs deal on drilling rig construction
By Nazrin Gadimova
Azerbaijani-US joint venture Caspian Drilling Company Ltd, majority owned by the Azerbaijani state energy company SOCAR, and Singapore's Keppel have signed an agreement on the construction of an advanced floating drilling rig for works on the Caspian Sea.
According to SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev, the construction of the 6th generation drilling rig will cost more than $1 bln.
The construction of the first drilling rig is to be completed in the third quarter of 2016, and it will be used in the Umid and Babek gas fields.
The rig could operate at the depth of 1,000 meters and drill a well into 12,000 meters. The facility will be used in SOCAR's projects.
Talks are also underway on the construction of another floating rig that could be used at the offshore Absheron field.
SOCAR is involved in exploring oil and gas fields, producing, processing, and transporting oil, gas, and gas condensate, marketing petroleum and petrochemical products in domestic and international markets, and supplying natural gas to industry and the public in Azerbaijan.