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SOFAZ allocates $408.5M for construction of new drilling rig in Azerbaijan

Business Materials 10 February 2015 13:49 (UTC +04:00)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb.10

By Emil Ismayilov- Trend:

The State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) allocated $408.5 million to the project of construction of the new generation drilling rig in Azerbaijan since the beginning of its construction, said a report posted Feb.10 on the official website of the fund.

The report said that the cost of the construction project of new generation floating drilling rig in Azerbaijan amounts to $1.116 billion.

The official exchange rate on Feb 10 is 0.7844 AZN/USD.

SOFAZ owns 90 percent share in "Azerbaijan Rigs" LLC, created for the construction of a new platform. The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) owns the remaining 10 percent share.

"In 2014, 192.9 million AZN has been allocated to this project from the fund," 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 should 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 January 1, 2015, the assets of SOFAZ have increased by 3.42 percent compared to early 2014 ($35.878 billion) and amounted to about $37.104 billion. 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.

edited by CN

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