Baku, Azerbaijan, July 24
By Emil Ismayilov - Trend:
As of June 30, 2014, over 236.44 million AZN was allocated for the construction of new generation floating drilling rig from the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ), according to the official website of the fund.
The report notes that the cost of the construction project of new generation floating drilling rig in Azerbaijan amounts to $1.116 billion.
SOFAZ owns 90 percent share in "Azerbaijan Rigs" LLC, created for the construction of a new platform. The remaining 10 percent of shares in the company is owned by the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR).
"In 2013, the SOFAZ allocated 169.14 million AZN for the implementation of this project, and this figure amounted to 67.3 million AZN in the first half of 2014," the report said.
The first new generation rig will be built for the needs of the SOCAR. The drilling operator will be "Caspian Drilling Company" (CDC), in which the SOCAR owns 92.44-percent share. Singaporean "Keppel FELS Limited" company has been chosen as the contractor of the rig's construction, with which the CDC signed an agreement for the construction work last June.
The new rig will be designed to drill wells up to 8,000 meters at the depth of 1,000 meters. The construction is planned to be completed in 2016.
The rig will be used for drilling of prospective structures and fields in Azerbaijan, such as the Umid field and such perspective structures as Babek, Karabakh, Ashrafi and others.
Azerbaijan should construct four new floating drilling rigs, taking into account the implementation of big projects in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea.
SOFAZ was established in 1999, and its assets at that time amounted to $271 million.
As of July 1, 2014, the assets of SOFAZ have increased by 4.86 percent compared to early 2014 and amounted to about $37.622 million. Based on SOFAZ's regulations, its funds may be used for the construction and reconstruction of strategically important infrastructure facilities, as well as solving important national problems.
The official exchange rate on July 24 is 0.7843 AZN/USD.
Edited by S.I.
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