BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 6. The semi-submersible drilling rig named after Heydar Aliyev, operated by Caspian Drilling Company Ltd, has drilled approximately 5,000 meters in an exploration well at the Shah Deniz field, a source familiar with the matter told Trend.
"The well is deep, with plans to drill it to around 7,000 meters. The drilling is expected to be completed by the end of the year. As for the rig's future operations, there will likely be projects, but no decision has been made yet," the source said.
The source noted that the Istiglal drilling rig is also involved in bp's project at Shah Deniz for well completion.
"This is a fairly long-term project that will take another couple of years to complete," explained the source.
bp announced the drilling of a new exploration well (SDX-8) on the contract territory within the framework of the exploration, development, and production sharing agreement for the promising Shah Deniz area in January of this year. The semi-submersible drilling rig named after Heydar Aliyev was relocated to the SDX-8 wellsite on the eastern flank of the Shah Deniz field in December 2022.
The existing Shah Deniz facilities’ production capacity is currently about 74 million standard cubic metres of gas per day or approximately 27 bcma.
Shah Deniz participating interests are: bp (operator – 29.99%), LUKOIL (19.99%), TPAO (19.00%), SOCAR (14.35%), NICO (10.00%) and SGC (6.67%).
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