Azerbaijan, Baku, July 23 /Trend E.Ismayilov/
It is planned to begin the construction of a new floating drilling rig for the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) in September, a source of the oil and gas market told Trend.
He noted that all the preparatory work for construction of the new rig is nearing completion.
"Given this, the construction of the drilling rig can be launched in September," the source said.
The source said previously that the construction of new rig will be completed in 2015.
SOCAR is considering the construction of another rig. According to plans, it may start 10 months after the start of the construction of the first.
The Caspian Drilling Company Ltd (CDC), in which the State Oil Company has a 92.44 per cent stake, will be a customer of the construction.
The new floating drilling rig will be used primarily to provide the company's own needs in drilling operations. It is possible that there won't be a necessity to employ a drill team, nor work for other companies which operate under contracts in the Azerbaijani sector of Caspian Sea, but will be made on the basis of the application.
In turn, SOCAR will provide the rig for use in accordance with the 'windows' that occur during the drilling operations of the State Oil Company.
Earlier, SOCAR has taken a policy decision to invest in the building of new rigs from which it will be possible to drill exploratory and development wells to a depth of 8000-10,000 metres in water with depths of up to 1000 metres.