SOCAR Installs New Platform at Bulla-Deniz

A new stationary drilling platform was commissioned on Monday at the Bulla-Deniz offshore field in Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea.

The platform was built by SOCAR Oil and Gas Construction Trust and projected by the in-house Oil & Gas Research and Design Institute. It was designed for drilling of one exploratory and four production wells. The platform was constructed in 30-meter sea depth and its deck is 12 meters above the sea.

The average depth of wells will be 6,300 meters. After commissioning of the wells the platform is expected to produce 2.5 million cubic meters of natural gas and 500 tons of condensate per day. The drilling will be carried out by ZJ-70DBS drilling rig. The rig has 46,6 meter high tower, which will enable to drill down to 7,000-meter depth from the rotor’s level. Drilling and exploitation works are scheduled to be carried out simultaneously. The wells will be operated by N.Narimanov Oil and Gas Extraction Department of SOCAR’s production unit Azneft.

SOCAR president Rovnag Abdullayev said, "We are investing on time also in our traditional fields of activity, such as exploration and production, to ensure the continuous supply of the new industrial facilities in Azerbaijan and abroad with crude materials, and most importantly, to meet the needs of the Azerbaijani people in fuel and petrochemical products.

"SOCAR has achieved significant growth in production during last 11 months. The new platforms based on modern technologies like Bulla-Deniz-12 will ensure the sustainability of our successes."

The platform has four blocks in the production area and one in its residential area, a helideck, four jetties and four boarding and landing areas, as well as a residential building to accommodate 36 people.

The Bulla-Deniz field is located in the northern part of the Baku archipelago, 10 kilometers southeast from the Sangachal-Duvanny-Khara Zira island field.