State Oil Co. of Azerbaijan, also known as Socar, plans to build four floating drilling rigs in the next seven years at a total cost of $4 billion.

The rigs will have a capacity to drill for oil and natural gas in the Caspian Sea at a depth of 1,000 meters (3,281 feet), Socar President Rovnaq Abdullayev told reporters today in the Azeri capital, Baku.

As many as 15,000 people will be involved in the construction of the rigs, he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Zulfugar Agayev in Baku at zagayev@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Hellmuth Tromm at htromm@bloomberg.net