“Heydar Aliyev” rig might remain without contracts in Caspian

The rig might remain without contractor contracts if Russian oil company LUKOIL refuses from drilling the second exploration well on D-222 prospect in the Azerbaijani section of the Caspian this year. The same time ExxonMobil is also probable to refuse from drilling the second obligatory well on Zafar-Mashal and Nakhchivan.

There are definite prospects that LUKOIL will at least take a resolution on drilling the second well, while ExxonMobil will, more probably, refuse. «The contract area of LUKOIL is quite big to make any conclusion on absence of hydrocarbons only on the base of one drilled well,” the same source urge.

Officials of the foreign companies also hint at the possibility of exploitation of Heydar Aliyev rig by Centrkasneftgas and Kazmunaygas National Company of Kazakhstan while drilling of an exploration well on Central field. The water depth in the drilling area is 440 meters, while project depth of the well is expected to exceed 4000 meters. ‘Heydar Aliyev’ is capable of drilling in the water depth of 700 meters, while minimal depth is expected to be roughly 75 meters. The drilling with ‘Heydar Aliyev’ rig might start in 2006 if there were free drilling hours. The estimated reserves of Central field are 521 million tons of conditional fuel.

In case the rig is not operated in the Caspian, it would be more probably reassembled and transported to the North Sea. ‘Heydar Aliyev’ is able to drill in the depth of 9,144 meters and it is fully ready to operate in the North Sea.