KMG Drilling and Services, a subsidiary of the national company “KazMunayGas” (KMG), has opened an office in Turkmenistan and will deploy its self-elevating floating drilling rig (SEADRILL) “Satti” for operations in the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea.
According to KMG, in August 2024, KMG DS and Dragon Oil Turkmenistan Limited signed a contract for drilling activities in this area. The SEADRILL “Satti” will commence drilling at the “Cheleken” field. After modifications in 2021, its lifting capacity increased from 453 to 680 tons, enabling larger-scale projects.
The “Satti” rig is the first drilling installation fully built in Kazakhstan. It is capable of drilling wells up to 6 kilometers in both shallow and deep water. The construction took three years and was based on American technologies at two shipyards, costing $270 million.
Notably, from 2001 to 2022, “Satti” was involved in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea for the Shallow Water Absheron Peninsula (SWAP) project commissioned by BP. KMG Drilling & Services, established in 2008, provides drilling services in Kazakhstan’s Caspian sector and owns the “Satti” rig. Dragon Oil Turkmenistan Ltd, a subsidiary of Dragon Oil (UAE), focuses on hydrocarbon exploration and production in the Cheleken area of the Caspian Sea and is owned by Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC).
