Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 11
By Azad Hasanli - Trend:
The British company BP starts to plan drilling of the first exploration well on Shafag-Asiman block of fields in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea, said BP's report on the results of its activity in Azerbaijan in January-June 2015.
"In the first half of 2015, BP completed the interpretation of the seismic dataset for Shafag-Asiman," said the report. "This work required some 18 months to complete and is followed by another year required for planning of the first exploration well."
The contract on Shafag-Asiman was signed by Azerbaijan's SOCAR and Britain's BP in October 2010 for a period of 30 years. The exploration period is four years with the possibility of extension for another three years.
At the first stage it is planned to drill two wells. If necessary, at the second stage another two wells will be drilled as well.
Upon the start of the operational period, the parties will carry out joint operatorship as part of the project.
The share distribution in the contract is 50 to 50 percent.
The Shafag-Asiman block's projected reserves stand at 500 billion cubic meters of gas and 65 million metric tons of condensate.
The block is located 125 kilometers south-east of Baku, Azerbaijan's capital.
Explorations were earlier conducted at the block.
Shafag-Asiman is located at a sea depth of 650-800 meters with reservoir depth of 7,000 meters.