Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 3
By Maksim Tsurkov - Trend:
The BP company is preparing to sign a contract to use the "Dede Gorgud" semi-submersible drilling rig, belonging to the Azerbaijani Caspian Drilling Company (CDC), a source in the oil and gas market in Azerbaijan told Trend Nov. 3.
The source said that the terms of the contract and how the rig will be used are currently being clarified.
"The "Dede Gorgud" rig has recently been upgraded at the Baku shipyard," said the source. "The rig is now completely ready to resume work, however, BP and CDC should sign a new agreement. The contract is now being prepared, along with the financial and technical sides of the contract, and terms for the contract are being negotiated."
The source said that BP is simultaneously developing a work program for the "Dede Gorgud".
"It is likely that the rig will continue to work at the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) block of fields, where it was used prior to repair," said the source. "But one can talk about it with certainty after the approval of the program."
The source did not specify when the contract will be signed.
Caspian Drilling Company (92.44-percent share is owned by SOCAR) is the operator of the Dede Gorgud floating semisubmersible drilling rig.
BP in Azerbaijan is the operator of the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli offshore oil and gas field and Shah Deniz gas condensate field, and it plans to supply gas to Europe during the second stage of its development.
The company also participates in pipeline projects, such as the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and South Caucasus gas pipeline.
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