Offshore oil program in Caspian Sea about to receive new drilling platform

Assembly work on a large offshore stationary platform, the largest built to date in the USSR, is almost finished at Baku's Primorsk yard. The large platform, tall as a 60-story building, weighs 13,000 tons, or more than two or three times as much as any platform now operated by the USSR. The heavy structure is designed for deep water operations (up to 150 meters), and is capable of drilling 24 wells simultaneously. It is scheduled to be launched before the end of the year. Construction already has begun on three more of the giant platforms at the Primorsk yard. The eastern portion of the Caspian Sea offshore from the Cheleken Peninsula has been the focus of considerable recent activity. An additional stationary platform was put into operation there this spring at the new West Okarem field, bringing the total number of operating platforms in the area to about 40. A considerable amount of exploratory work is going on, as well. For example, the Lam deposit (opened initially in 1973 as a gas field) began yielding commercial oil this year from a 3000-meter well. By the end of this five-year plan (1990), petroleum output from the eastern Caspian is expected tomore » be 2.5 times the current level.« less