Azerbaijan, Baku, July 29 /Trend E.Ismayilov/
Azerbaijan will need four new modern floating rigs in the Caspian Sea in the next 20 years, a source of oil and gas market told Trend.
The source said the drilling rigs are necessary in view of plans to develop fields situated in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea fields, as well as plans for future drilling on Azerbaijani offshore structures and discovery of new deposits.
The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) will start construction of a new rig in the autumn and will begin building a second in 2013.
The source added that two floating drilling rigs Istiglal and Dada Gorgud, which are currently used at the Caspian Sea, will require replacement in the near future.
"Accordingly, there is a need in four new drilling in the long term," the source said.
The construction of new, modern drilling rigs, corresponding to modern requirements is estimated at $700-800 million per installation.
As head of SOCAR Rovnag Abdullaeav said previously, Azerbaijan plans to build four offshore rigs.
Earlier, SOCAR has taken a policy decision to invest in building new rigs as last generation, from which it will be possible to drill exploratory and development wells to a depth of 8-10 thousand metres in water depths up to 1000 metres.