SINGAPORE (Yosefardi) – Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd (Keppel O&M) has secured a contract from Caspian Drilling Company Ltd, a subsidiary of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR), to build a semisubmersible drilling rig, which includes owner furnished equipment, worth about US$800 million.
Keppel O&M secured the contract through its subsidiaries Caspian Rigbuilders BV (an affiliated company of Keppel FELS) and Caspian Shipyard Company (CSC).
The rig is designed for a drilling depth of up to 40,000ft and operations in 1000m water depth.The rig will be operated in the Caspian Sea, which holds a tremendous amount of untapped oil and gas reserves and Azerbaijan is the largest offshore producer in the region of both oil and gas.
Keppel’s yard in Azerbaijan, CSC, will carry out the fabrication, integration, testing and commissioning of the rig while its joint-venture yard with SOCAR, Baku Shipyard LLC, will undertake part of the fabrication of the pontoons and columns.