Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan. 7 / Trend E.Ismayilov /
KCA DEUTAG, the leading international drilling and engineering contractor, has been awarded a flagship six-rig contract by BP as operator of the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli and Shah Deniz fields in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea, to manage all of BP-operated platform drilling assets in the Caspian region, the company reported on Friday.
The contract, which is for a primary period of five years with the option to extend by up to a further five years, is believed to be the world's largest single platform drilling contract.
The contract covers platform drilling operations and maintenance services on the Central, East and West Azeri, Chirag, Deepwater Gunashli and Shah Deniz platforms, and employs some 700 KCA DEUTAG staff both on and offshore, of which over 500 are Azerbaijani citizens. On the Chirag platform the rig is owned by KCA DEUTAG and leased to BP.
KCA DEUTAG's involvement in Azerbaijan commenced in 1997 with the conversion and mobilisation of their landrig T-105 for the Chirag platform. In fact KCA DEUTAG, via its engineering division RDS, has been involved in the design of all subsequent platform rigs for BP in the Caspian region and is presently engaged in the detail design of the next platform rig for the Chirag Oil Project. This next platform is due to be installed in 2013 and the operation of the rig will automatically fall under this new contract with KCA DEUTAG.
KCA DEUTAG's Northern Platforms division comprises operations on 32 platforms in the UK, Norway, Caspian, and Sakhalin Island. In addition KCA DEUTAG operates the platform rig on CABGOC's Benguela Belize Platform in Angola.