Azerbaijan, Baku / corr Trend S.Aliyev / Transocean Inc., a drilling rig company, and one of the biggest after the merger between Transocean and GlobalSantaFe) is likely to acquire the Heydar Aliyev semi-submersible drilling rig (former LIDER) from its Dutch owner Maersk Contractors.
A source at the Azerbaijani oil and gas market said on 25 July that after the purchase, the company could have a profound fleet of drilling rigs at the Caspian Sea, which will enable it to considerably increase the volume of drilling operations in all Caspian littoral countries. In addition, the company will own rigs which will carry out offshore drilling in any part of the Caspian and at any depth.
Transocean (within the framework of CDC joint venture) has two rigs in Azerbaijan, Dede Gorgud and Istiglal, which are operating for ВР Azerbaijan in Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli and Shah Deniz fields.
Heydar Aliyev SDR is allocated for well drilling in the depth of up to 9,000m in the water width of up to 1,000m. The limited depth of the Caspian comprises 1,025m, which means that the rig can operate almost in all of the water's area. The cost of the drilling rig is $260mln. The Crew of the DSS-20 is comprised of 130 people.