Azerbaijan to invest $301.4m in construction of new rig

Azerbaijan has allocated AZN 236.4 million (USD 301.4 million) from the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAR) for construction of a new generation drilling rig of DSSTM38M design, Trend reports citing the SOFAR press service.

The total project cost is estimated at $ 1,1 billion. 

SOFAR owns 90% interest in Azerbaijan Rigs Ltd., a company established for the construction of the new rig. The remaining 10% shares are owned by SOCAR (State Oil Company of Azerbaijan).

The first new generation drilling rig DSSTM 38M will be built for SOCAR. The facility operator is Caspian Drilling Company (CDC) with 92.44% of equity stake in the hands of SOCAR. Keppel FELS Limited was chosen as the project contractor, which in June 2013 signed through its subsidiaries Caspian Rigbuilders BV (an affiliated company of Keppel FELS) and Caspian Shipyard Company (CSC) a contract for the rig construction.

The DSSTM38M rig is designed for a drilling depth of up to 40,000ft and operations in 1000m water depth. The rig delivery is scheduled for 2016.

The facility will be deployed for drilling prospective structures and fields in Azerbaijan, such as the Umid and Babek, Karabakh, Ashrafi and others.

Bakudaily.az