Eurasia Drilling Co. (EDC) has issued an update on its offshore drilling programs in the Caspian Sea.

The jackup Astra has relocated to Russian waters to start a campaign for Lukoil. In the same sector, EDC’s platform drilling team based on Lukoil’s Yuri Korchagin platform have completed one well so far this year and have started drilling another extended-reach horizontal development well.

In the Turkmen sector, the jackup Saturn has continued operations for Petronas Carigali, drilling one side track well, and the company’s newbuild jackup Neptune has started drilling for Dragon Oil.

Hull sections for Mercury, EDC’s fourth jackup, have been welded and floated in a Caspian shipyard