Starting from 2013, the State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) started to finance the share of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the construction of the sixth generation of semi-submersible drilling rig. Recently, companies operating in the Caspian Sea have been facing facility shortages in drilling exploration and production wells. Along with the current needs, future Production Share Agreements will require more of such rigs for exploration of deep and large scale wells. Insufficiency of existing facilities for fulfilling the work plan creates a necessity for new and modern equipment for drilling new exploration wells.

In order to construct the semi-submersible drilling rig Socar Rig Assets LLC was established. The State Oil Company and Caspian Drilling Company limited LLC acquired 10% and 90% of the shares, respectively. On the 5^th of July 2013, 90% shares of Socar Rig Assets LLC were purchased by SOFAZ.

Control of the activity of Socar Rig Assets LLC is overseen by the Supervisory Board, consisting of overall 2 people; one person from SOFAZ and one person from the State Oil Company. According to the decision of the Supervisory Board, Socar Rig Assets LLC was renamed to “Azerbaijan Rigs” LLC. The purchase of the statutory capital of “Azerbaijan Rigs” LLC is considered as an investment project and is included to the SOFAZ’s investment portfolio.

The maximum limit for the budget of the project is USD 1 116.7 million (USD 1 005.0 mln. SOFAZ’s share). Since the start of the project SOFAZ has already allocated USD 904.6 mln. and the project was completed in February 2018.