Keppel Offshore & Marine (Keppel O&M) through its subsidiaries Caspian Rigbuilders BV (an affiliated company of Keppel FELS) and Caspian Shipyard Company (CSC), has secured a contract from Caspian Drilling Company, a subsidiary of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR), to build a semisubmersible drilling rig, which includes owner-furnished equipment, worth about USD 800M.
Scheduled for delivery in Q4 2016, the rig will be built to Keppel FELS’ proprietary DSS 38M design, which has been customised for the Caspian Sea’s harsh environment condition. The DSS 38M is designed for a drilling depth of up to 40,000ft and operations in 1000m water depth. It has been outfitted to include an 800m self-contained eight-point mooring system designed to meet high wind speeds in the harsh Caspian environment. The pontoons have been designed for the rig to transit in channels with shallow draft of less than 7m.
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, will undertake part of the fabrication of the pontoons and columns. Keppel FELS will provide engineering, procurement and technical support.
The Caspian Sea 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. SOCAR stated recently that it intends to build more rigs in the near future.