Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 1 / Trend E.Ismayilov /
$ 4 billion will be allocated for construction of four new drilling rigs in Azerbaijan, the head of SOCAR (State Oil Company of Azerbaijan), Rovnag Abdullayev said at a meeting with students on occasion of the Youth Day on Friday.
According to him, the investment will be made for the period up to 2018-2019.
388.575 million manat will be allocated from the budget of the State Oil Fund in 2013 to build a semi-submersible drilling rig (SSDR), necessary for the needs of SOCAR.
Construction will begin in September 2013 at a new shipyard being built by SOCAR in Baku.
On the issue of construction of a new petroleum complex in Azerbaijan, and petrochemical production (OGPC), Abdullayev said that laying of foundation stone of the new enterprise will be held this year, and construction will be completed by 2020.
The OGPC project provides for construction of oil and gas processing plants with the capacity of 10 million tons and 10 billion cubic meters per year, respectively. The project also includes petrochemical production, aimed at provision of two million tons of basic polymers per year. The new complex will also include plant facilities with self-contained unit. In general, the configuration of the complex will include about 30 units using more than 20 technology licenses.
The complex will be located in 60 kilometers from Baku. Commissioning of the entire OGPC complex is scheduled for the end of 2020.
The total cost of the project, according to feasibility study, is $15 billion. Return on investment will be yielded within seven to eight years.
Abdullayev said that it is also planned to start construction of a new plant for production of urea in Azerbaijan (Sumgait). A similar plant for urea production is planned for construction in Georgia. Works on implementation of this project are currently underway.