Socar To Complete Bangladesh Well in Sept

Azerbaijan’s drilling contractor Socar AQS, owned by state-run Azerbaijani oil company and UK-based Nobel Oil Services, will complete its first gas well in Bangladesh in mid-September, CEO Ramin Isayev told NGW July 26.

“There are three wells at 3,000-4,000 metres depth -probably a fourth will also be needed. These would each produce 73mn m³/yr by April 2019. The total cost of drilling is $35mn”, he said.

Dhaka announced tenders for drilling 108 exploratory wells in February 2017. Each tender contains 4 wells and the company won one of the tenders and signed a contract with state operator Bapex in late July 2017.

The block is in the east of country, close to the border with gas-rich but politically unstable Myanmar. The wells will be drilled at Semutang Dakkhin 1, Begumganj 4, and Modarganj 1 fields, comprising two exploration and one appraisal wells.

"We have already identified the location of the second well and will drill the drilling equipment as soon as the first well is completed, and the first drilling will allow the drilling of the second well more intensively," Isayev noted.

Socar AQS in C Asian JV

Socar AQS and Aberdeen-based KCA Deutag also formed a joint venture (JV) company to do drilling and engineering services in the Caspian offshore and central Asia, both said July 26. The Baku-based JV will be jointly owned and managed and called Turan Drilling & Engineering.  

KCA Deutag has been operating in Azerbaijan since 1995 when it was awarded its first drilling contract and has been in Azerbaijan for 20 years, providing a whole range of engineering and commissioning services through its RDS and offshore business units. Established in 2007, Socar AQS has drilled 67 offshore wells and is drilling 18 wells in the Caspian.