The Caspian Sea, bordered by Kazakhstan, Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkmenistan, is the largest enclosed body of saltwater in the world, with a 1.2% salinity level. The depth varies from 5 m (16 ft) at the Caspian shelf to 1,025 m (3,363 ft) at its deepest point in the southern part, averaging 196 m (643 ft). Sea levels depend upon the inflow from two rivers, the Volga and the Ural. Evaporation is the only form of sea level regulation, and water levels average 30 m (98 ft) below sea level. In winter almost one-third of the northern Caspian freezes, and in summer the Iranian sector sees water surface temperatures of about 30 C (86 F).

The Caspian Sea is used for oil and gas extraction, tourism, and fishing, although strict environmental regulations have been implemented to protect locals who depend on its resources and native species, such as sturgeon, for their livelihoods. Hence, all oil and gas activities must adhere to delivering zero discharge during drilling and production operations.

Operating in the Caspian

Eurasia Drilling Co.’s (EDC’s) offshore division, known as BKE Shelf, has its origins in Lukoil Shelf Ltd., which was founded in 1999. EDC entered the offshore drilling market in 2006 with the purchase of Lukoil’s Astra jackup, located in the Caspian Sea.

EDC’s BKE Shelf division has grown to be the largest independent offshore operator in Russia and currently has four jackups operating in the Caspian Sea. The Astra is currently drilling in Russian waters; the Saturn and Neptune jackups are drilling in Turkmen waters; and the latest addition is the Mercury jackup, which is en route from the shipyard in Astrakhan, Russia, to Turkmen waters. The Mercury is expected to be commissioned in January.

EDC also provides drilling services on Lukoil’s ice-resistant offshore platform LSP-1 on the Korchagina Field, located in the Russian sector of the Caspian Sea. The contract for Lukoil’s LSP-1 platform in the Korchagina oil and gas condensate field is a “life-of-drilling” contract. Since the start of drilling on this ice-resistant platform, more than 19 wells have been constructed, and many of these are extended-reach wells, with the longest being more than 8,400 m (27,560 ft).

Astra jackup

The Astra jackup is a Baker Marine Services BMC-150-H design capable of drilling to 4,875 m (16,000 ft) in water depths up to 38 m (120 ft). It has been deployed extensively for drilling in Russian and Kazakh waters and has been the workhorse for many operations such as the eight fields discovered by Lukoil. To date, Astra has drilled more than 40 new wells in the Caspian Sea.

The distribution of these wells by sector is as follows:

  • In the Russian sector, more than 20 exploration and appraisal wells were drilled for Lukoil in the Khvalynskaya, Shirotnaya, Rakushechnaya, Diagonalnaya, Sarmatskaya and West-Sarmatskaya fields plus an exploration well for the KNK Consortium (Rosneft/Lukoil) in the Ukatnaya Field;
  • Astra drilled 11 directional development wells and also performed a workover for Dragon Oil in the LAM Field in the Turkmenistan sector; and
  • Astra also has been deployed in the Kazakhstan sector, drilling more than 10 exploration and appraisal wells across the following fields: the Tub-Karagan Field for KMT and Rosneft; the Kurmangazy Field for KMG and Lukoil; the Auezov, Khazar and Tulpar fields for CMOC, KMG, Shell and Oman Pearls Co.; the Atash Field (KMG and Lukoil JV); and N-Block for N-Operating Co.

One of the important properties of Astra is its ability to drill in a variety of water depths. The maximum water depth in which Astra has worked is 33 m (108 ft), while the minimum is 5.2 m (17 ft, Kazakh sector). The deepest well drilled by Astra was 4,875 m (15,995 ft).

Saturn jackup

The Saturn jackup was purchased from Transocean in 2011. Previously known as Trident 20, it was built in a shipyard in Azerbaijan and started its maiden well in 2000. Since then this rig has drilled more than 35 new wells and performed 14 workovers. Thirty of the wells and all of the workovers were for Petronas in the Magtymguly, Diyarbekir, Mashrykov and Garagyol fields in Turkmen waters. It also has drilled two exploration wells for Japan Azerbaijan Oil Co. in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea and two exploration wells in the Kazakhstan sector—one drilled for AGIP KCO in the Kalamkas Block and one well for CMOC in the Pearls Block. Saturn currently continues to drill wells for Petronas in Turkmen waters.

Newbuilds

BKE Shelf was recently awarded a three-year development drilling contract by Dragon Oil for its Cheleken development in Turkmen waters. EDC will service this contract with two newbuild jackups. These rigs are LeTourneau S116E design, built by Lamprell. They are built in modular form in Sharjah and shipped through the Volga-Don canal system for final assembly in Astrakhan, Russia. The rigs are capable of drilling to 9,144 m (30,000 ft) in up to 107 m (350 ft) of water. The first newbuild jackup, Neptune, was deployed in February 2014. Starting 2015, Neptune is also contracted to drill for several clients in the Russian waters.

EDC’s newest addition to the Caspian, the Mercury, has just been completed and will join the Neptune in January 2015. The Mercury jackup is a LeTourneau Super 116E rig design, equipped with three Lewco W-2214 7,500-psi working pressure 2,200-hp mud pumps and Lewco LDW-1500-AC 3,000-hp drawworks. The rotary table has a 1,257-mm maximum opening.

The Mercury is built to operate efficiently even in storm conditions. It is able to withstand 16.8-m (55-ft) tall waves at 13.7 seconds and winds up to 100 knots. Normal operating conditions for the Mercury comprise 12.2-m (40-ft) tall waves at 11.7 seconds with winds at 100 knots as well. The Mercury storage capacities consist of 335 cu. m (11,830 cf) fuel oil, 652 cu. m (23,025 cf) liquid mud and 154 cu. m (5,438 cf) liquid brine/oil.

Getting the Mercury to the Caspian Sea is a journey of 180 km (112 miles) through the Volga-Caspian Channel from the Astrakhan shipyard where it was built. The journey is a race against time to allow the Mercury to be deployed in the Caspian before it freezes. Other difficulties include access to the limited standby boats in the Caspian Sea to complete the tow. The Mercury had to wait on boats that were first used to tow out a production platform from Astrakhan to the Russian sector before Mercury could be moved.

When Mercury starts up in January, EDC will own and operate four of the five jackups operating in the Caspian Sea. The fifth jackup is the Iran Khazar owned by NIOC and is operating in the Turkmen waters for Dragon Oil.

There are two additional jackup rigs planned to start operations in the Caspian Sea. The first of these is a newbuild named Caspian Driller, owned by Momentum Engineering, which was due for delivery in 2012 but is now late with an unknown start date. It is contracted to Dragon Oil for work in Turkmen waters.

The second is the Prime Exerter, owned by Ezion Holdings. This 33-year-old rig was dismantled in Holland so it could be shipped into the Caspian Sea through the Volga-Don canal system. It is being reassembled in Baku, Azerbaijan, and is contracted for work with Petronas in Turkmen waters. Delivery was due at the end of 2013; a revised delivery date is unknown.

EDC believes the Caspian Sea activity requires seven or eight jackups due to the large number of exploration licenses yet to be drilled. And, of course, if this leads to more discoveries, there will be a significant amount of development drilling required to put these fields online.