Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov. 13 /Trend E.Ismayilov /
Early next year, SOCAR (State Oil Company of Azerbaijan) will launch construction of a new rig in the Caspian Sea, source in the oil and gas market told Trend on Tuesday.
The construction of the rig is ordered on behalf of SOCAR by Caspian Drilling Company Ltd (CDC), a 92.44 percent share of which is owned by SOCAR.
According to the source, final clarification work is currently underway within the signing of contracts with suppliers.
Concerning the timing of the construction completion, the source stated that the construction of the first rig will take about 40 months. Accordingly, the construction work can be completed in late 2015 and early 2016.
Earlier, SOCAR has taken a policy decision to invest in the construction of new rigs of last generation, which will enable drilling of exploratory and development wells at a depth of 8-10 thousand meters with depth of sea at 1000 meters.
Previously the head of SOCAR Rovnag Abdullayev mentioned that within five years SOCAR expects investment in the amount of four billion dollars in the construction of four drilling rigs.
According to the source, preparation to the construction of one unit is currently underway, but the need for additional rigs is objective, taking into account Azerbaijan's plans to develop the existing fields and the search for new deposits.
Construction will be lead by the Bos Shelf, Caspian Shipyard Company under the operatorship of Keppel. The need for new rigs is due to the plans on drilling of wells in promising structures, such as Babak, the gas reserves of which, according to SOCAR geologists, could reach 400 billion cubic meters. Drilling rigs are also required as part of continuing work in the Absheron field, and implementation of second phase of Shah Deniz field development.
