Baku, Azerbaijan, July 20
By Azad Hasanli - Trend:
Danish Maersk Drilling has been awarded a 5-year contract extension for the semi-submersible Heydar Aliyev rig with BP Exploration (Shah Deniz) Limited, acting as operator of the Shah Deniz field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea, said the message posted on the company's website.
The estimated value of the contract extension is up to $523 million.
"The rig will continue working on the development of the Shah Deniz field in the Caspian Sea offshore Azerbaijan," said the message. "The extension is in direct continuation of the current contract ending May 2016 and extends the contract until May 2021."
"We are very pleased with the extension [of the contract] for the Heydar Aliyev rig and look forward to continue our long standing cooperation with BP," Claus V. Hemmingsen, CEO in Maersk Drilling and member of the Executive Board in the Maersk Group, said.
The contract for development of the Shah Deniz offshore field was signed on June 4, 1996.
The field's reserve is estimated at 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas. The shareholders are: BP, operator (28.8 percent), AzSD (10 percent), SGC Upstream (6.7 percent), Petronas (15.5 percent), Lukoil (10 percent), NICO (10 percent) and TPAO (19 percent).