Azernews.Az

By Sara Israfilbayova

Azerbaijan's newly constructed semi-submersible drilling rig named after Heydar Aliyev is being tested, a source in the oil and gas market of Azerbaijan told Trend.

“Tests are being conducted in the open sea, 70 km from the shore. The results obtained during the tests are very good,” the source said.

He added that it will take five days to test the anchors, distillers and hydrophores. The tests are expected to be completed within a week, after which the preparation of a contract for the use of the drilling rig will start.

Construction of the first new generation drilling rig for SOCAR began in 2013. The installation can operate at sea depths up to thousands of meters, while its drilling depth is 12,000 meters. The funds invested both by the State Oil Fund and the State Oil Company in this project amount to approximately $1 billion.

This installation is the first and the only drilling rig in the world with 1,400 atmospheres system technology. Its carrying capacity is 5,600, and displacement - 47,500 tons. Modern equipment allows to carry out drilling operations 4 times faster. Around 160 people can work on the rig. About 2,400 people worked on its construction, 80 percent of which were citizens of Azerbaijan.

SOCAR is involved in exploring oil and gas fields, producing, processing, and transporting oil, gas, and gas condensate, marketing petroleum and petrochemical products in domestic and international markets, as well as, supplying natural gas to industry and the public in Azerbaijan.

SOCAR is 100 percent owned by the government of Azerbaijan. SOCAR participates in joint ventures (including ventures in Georgia and Turkey), consortia, and operating companies established with SOCAR’s participation. The company has represantatives in Iran, Romania, Ukraine and Germany.

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