OREANDA-NEWS. Recent signing of the Service Order Assignment Agreement according to which the whole volume of drilling works performed at Tengiz field for “Tengizchevroil” LLP (TCO) will be transferred to the joint venture of “KMG Nabors Drilling Company (KNDC)” LLP, has become a significant event for the whole oil and gas sector of Kazakhstan.

KNDC Company, as a new major participant of the drilling market in Kazakhstan, was established in April this year as a result of partner agreements between “KMG Drilling & Services” LLP (subsidiary of JSC NC “KazMunayGas”) and Nabors Drilling, world leading company in drilling operations.

Earlier, taking into account the high status of the projects, only top-level foreign drilling companies were involved in drilling operations upon development of large fields in Kazakhstan.

Thus, the participation of a Kazakh party in drilling at Tengiz is an absolute breakthrough and recognition of the fact that the domestic company has the required capacity and potential for mutually beneficial cooperation in the project of any scale.

The production and economic component of KNDC prospects includes drilling of more than 150 wells for five years. In addition, currently the option of future Tengiz project expansion, implying the increase in drilling volumes, is under development.

Given the forthcoming volume of works, KNDC has taken necessary steps to ensure the fulfillment of drilling obligations. For example, Nabors Drilling has transferred 3 drilling rigs to KNDC. In turn, “KMG Drilling & Services” LLP is purchasing for KNDC the latest generation drilling rig which has no equal in in Kazakhstan and able to perform cluster drilling.