Baku, Azerbaijan, July 31
By Kamala Mammadli - Trend:
The State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) expects to return investments in the construction of the 6th generation floating semi-submersible drilling rig “Heydar Aliyev” after 15 years, a source in the Fund told Trend.
The calculations were made taking into account market conditions and on the basis of forecasts for the potential volume of drilling work in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea, according to the source.
“The growth of orders for drilling on promising structures in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea and the potential possibility of attracting floating semi-submersible drilling rigs to work in other national sectors of the Caspian Sea basin expand the possibilities of lending the rig,” the source noted. “Ultimately, this will provide an opportunity to attract additional profits, and thus, reduce the payback period of invested funds.”
The source added that $1 billion was invested in the construction of the floating semi-submersible drilling rig, $904.6 million of which was allocated by the fund and $100 million by Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR.
After completion of construction in 2018, in February of the same year, a contract was signed between the rig’s operator the Caspian Drilling Company (CDC) and the French oil company Total, regarding drilling an appraisal and production wells.
“Since early 2019, SOFAZ received $56 million from operating the rig,” the Fund said, adding that $11 million of these funds are dividends that the fund received from the investments, while $45 million are funds that go to pay off the investments.
SOFAZ noted that the closeness of the Caspian Sea basin and the lack of drilling rigs have already led to a delay in the implementation of major exploration and production projects. In 2013, Socar Rig Assets was created in order to build the 6th generation floating semi-submersible drilling rig, 90 percent of shares of this company belonged to the CDC, while 10 percent to SOCAR.
In July of the same year, CDC signed an agreement with SOFAZ on the sale of equity participation in the authorized capital, so 90 percent of shares of Socar Rig Assets were transferred to SOFAZ.