Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 18
By Maksim Tsurkov - Trend:
It is planned to increase the volume of drilling operations at the Azerbaijani Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) block of fields in 2016, a source on the oil and gas market of Azerbaijan told Trend Dec.18.
"A specific work plan for 2016 hasn't been approved yet, and the exact number of wells is not known, either," the source said. "But one can say that BP and its partners don't intend to reduce drilling at the ACG, despite low oil prices. On the contrary, it is planned to increase the volume of drilling. Emphasis will be placed on the injection wells for reservoir pressure support and subsequent increase in extraction of oil."
The source went on to add that these plans are clearly confirmed by the contract concluded by the BP with the KCA Deutag drilling contractor Dec.17.
The contract was signed for three years with an option to extension for further six years and includes drilling operations at the ACG and Shah Deniz fields.
At the end of the third quarter of 2015, as many as 88 production wells and 42 injection wells were operating at the ACG field.
The contract for development of ACG field was signed in 1994. The proven oil reserve of the block nears 1 billion tons.
The shareholders of the project are: BP (operator in the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli) - 35.78 percent, Chevron - 11.27 percent, Inpex - 10.96 percent, AzACG - 11.65 percent, Statoil - 8.56 percent, Exxon - 8 percent, TPAO - 6.75 percent, Itocu - 4.3 percent and ONGC - 2.72 percent.
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