SOCAR-AQS ENTERS INTERNATIONAL MARKET

The modern oil industry, in particular, the process of drilling and well construction, dictates companies to operate in strict compliance with generally accepted standards which meet customers' requirements for the safest, high-quality and fastest delivery of wells. At the same time, the main conditions remain to be safety and high quality of work, innovative and economic technologies, and also honest relations with the customer - these are the principles that serve as the basis for integration into the world oil community.

That was the very purpose SOCAR-AQS was established in 2007, when two founding partners - State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) and Absheron Drilling Company (AQS) decided to set up a joint drilling venture. As cofounder, SOCAR brings more than 160 years of industrial oil well drilling experience to SOCAR-AQS, and AQS provides advanced drilling technologies and new management methods. The newly established company was set to perform two main tasks: to provide high-quality work on drilling, construction and delivery to the customer of oil and gas wells within the shortest time period and with the minimum expenses, in accordance with the highest health, safety and environmental international standards; and to create effective structure of a modern competitive drilling company.

Our interview with General Director of SOCAR-AQS, Mr Ramin Isayev, matched with a significant date for us - 20th September, Oil Workers Day.

- To paraphrase a well-known expression, we should state that technologies are what we can't live without in modern world…

Yes, indeed. It's the technologies that lead the way nowadays. The technology and techniques used by our company meet modern requirements, and the drilling equipment is high-tech and complies with international standards. The technology and technique we use are mainly created in Russia, Western Europe and the USA. Here, I would particularly draw your attention on the remote online tracking system on the well drilling process installed on the platform and in the office of the company, modern directional drilling equipment, and various types of technologies introduced in our work by the leading contracting companies. Besides, we purchased high-productive pumps, automated drilling equipment, special drilling tools, drill pipes, up-to-date top-drive and lot of other equipment for our operations.

In addition to the above, application of various well design modifications, use of API standards in operations and development of drilling work instructions are worth to be noted.

By the way, our company was the first to apply a retrievable whipstock technology on Shallow Water Gunashli Field, and our specialists were the first to take core samples from Platforms 11 and 13 by using a new technology. Both operations were a 100%-success.

It should be said that improvement of the effectiveness of drilling operations through introducing new technologies in drilling over the past three years helped to increase average commercial drilling speed approximately fourfold and to reduce drilling downtime down to the value not exceeding 3%.

- To what extent do the state-of- the-art technology and effective work organization give grounds to speak about the company's success today and prospects for tomorrow?

I believe that signing of the contract with Bahar Operating Company Ltd for drilling on the Bahar and the Gum Deniz offshore fields in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea was a success. At present, one well had already been drilled on this field and drilling of a new one has already been started. Besides, since the beginning of this year, three wells had been drilled and delivered to the customer from the two offshore platforms on Shallow Water Gunashli.

The company's plan for this year is beginning of drilling works on Umid field and entrance into the international market on the provision of integrated drilling and well management services.

The perspectives for the development of SOCAR-AQS are reflected in our strategic vision: to grow to the level of modern international company on the provision of integrated drilling and well management services through expanding the range and geography of our operations. Modernization of equipment and introduction of new technologies and management systems on the basis of international standards for quality, health, safety and environment (ISO, OHSAS, API); constant provision of training to the employees; participation in the international oil & gas exhibitions and conferences; membership of the company in the IADC (International Association of Drilling Contractors) and of its members in the SPE (Society of Petroleum Engineers) - all this is aimed at restoration of historically leading role of Azerbaijan in the world drilling industry. And in the near future, the company is planning to implement new unique projects in Azerbaijan, like horizontal drilling and drilling of multilateral wells.

- What are the company's main achievements in the area of health, safety and environment?

Care for health, safety and environment is the core of everything we do. We adhere to the following principles in our work: "No harm to people, no damage to environment and no damage to property", and also: "To prevent an incident is easier than to eliminate its consequences". The result of such approach is the fact that beginning from 2008, number of LTI's (Lost Time Incidents) was 4.124 million.

Among the main achievements in the area of health, safety and environment is implementation in the company of the Integrated Management System based on the ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 International Standards. Also worth to be noted are introduction of such management tools as STOP Card, aimed at the increase of awareness of the personnel in safety issues; 5 Star personnel motivation programme; TapRoot incident investigation programme; and the safety ma-nual.

In addition to that, HSE personnel regularly conduct safety observation discussions (SOC); work with the company's operational personnel on the assessment of risks; transfer and checking of information (RTC - Read, Talk, Check); and also safety training courses.

- That means modern technologies require a serious approach to the issue of development of personnel, right?

Correct. SOCAR-AQS consider their personnel as the most valuable asset. One of the items of the company's policy is formation in personnel of the initiative on introduction of novelties in all areas of activity of the company. In order to achieve this goal, the company conducts regular training courses and improvement of personnel's qualifications. For instance, for the first seven months of 2013, number of man-hours spent by our employees on training in the national and foreign training centres was 6000. We are striving to create opportunities for constant development of our personnel.

In May this year, SOCAR-AQS announced about the start of Summer Internship Programme for the students of colleges, vocational schools and higher educational establishments. Main purpose of this programme is active engagement of the students, who wish to build their careers in the oil & gas sphere, into the activity of various structural units of the company and creation of the opportunities for them to gain a unique experience. Besides, those students who successfully pass the programme will become potential employees of the company. In addition, SOCAR-AQS take serious actions in providing their employees with free access to the international professional literature and in gaining their knowledge of international standards. The main problem here is that such materials are very rare to find and get in the Azeri language. For that reason, a large number of reference books, guidelines and instructions related with various aspects of drilling were translated into Azeri language and published by our company. Besides, we began translation of a textbook on drilling engineering, which is well-known in the oil & gas industry.

P.S. Speaking about the plans of the company, Mr Isayev pointed that the future of SOCAR-AQS is reflected in its mission: To become a modern international company on the provision of integrated drilling and well services, by expanding the areas of activity and geography.