...

Keppel eyes to launch new SOCAR rig in 2017

Oil&Gas Materials 27 October 2016 19:31 (UTC +04:00)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 27

By Maksim Tsurkov – Trend:

Singapore’s Keppel FELS Limited plans to launch the new generation oil rig, which is being built by the company in Baku, on May 10, 2017, a source in Azerbaijan’s oil and gas market told Trend Oct. 27.

The new generation oil rig belongs to Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR.

“It is planned to complete different types of installation work until late 2016, after which it is planned to carry out minor repairs on the rig, as well as various kinds of testing of its separate systems onshore and offshore,” the source said.

Keppel FELS Limited is building the first new generation drilling rig for SOCAR’s needs.

The State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) will be the co-owner of the new drilling rig, which will be operated by Caspian Drilling Company (CDC), a subsidiary of SOCAR.

Keppel FELS Limited, which signed an agreement on carrying out construction work with CDC in June 2015, is the contractor of the drilling rig’s construction.

The construction of the drilling rig is worth over $1 billion. The new rig is designed for drilling of wells with a depth of up to 8,000 meters at a sea depth of 1,000 meters.

SOFAZ is financing the new generation floating drilling rig’s construction. The Fund has a 90-percent share in Azerbaijan Rigs LLC, which was created for the construction of the new rig. The other 10-percent share in the company is owned by SOCAR.

Since the beginning of the new generation floating drilling rig’s construction in Azerbaijan, SOFAZ has allocated $793.7 million for the project.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @MaksimTsurkov

Tags:
Latest

Latest