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Drilling of new well in Shah Deniz-2 project to be finished

Business Materials 27 October 2014 17:26 (UTC +04:00)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct.27

By Emil Ismayilov - Trend:

Drilling of SDC04 well will be completed until late 2014 within the framework of pre-drilling on the second stage of development of Shah Deniz gas condensate field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea, a source on the oil and gas market told Trend.

The operator of the Shah Deniz field development is the British BP.

Currently, the well depth is about 6,500 meters, and the drilling process will be completed soon, according to the source. The project depth of the well is slightly higher than 6500 meters.

"Work on drilling of this well can already be completed by the end of 2014," the source said. The well is being drilled with the Istiglal rig.

Also, drilling of another well SDD-03 has recently started within the framework of the Shah Deniz-2, which the project depth of about 6500 meters, according to the source.

"Drilling began recently from the rig named after Heydar Aliyev," the source said. "Prior to this (in August) the rig has completed drilling of SDD-02 well. Completion of SDD-03 drilling can be expected already in April or May of 2015."

Six wells have already been drilled within the framework of pre-drilling in the Shah Deniz-2 project, the source said.

Annual production of gas will increase from 9 billion cubic meters (the first phase) by an additional 16 billion cubic meters in the second phase within the framework of the Shah Deniz project. Two offshore platforms will be installed and more than 20 underwater wells will be drilled for additional production of 16 billion cubic meters of gas per year under the Shah Deniz-2.

The gas to be produced as part of the Stage 2 of the field's development will be exported to Turkey and to the European markets by means of expanding the South Caucasus Pipeline and construction of the Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline (TANAP) and the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP).

The contract for development of the Shah Deniz offshore field, which has proven reserve of 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas, was signed on June 4, 1996.

In 2013, Shah Deniz produced 9.8 billion cubic meters of gas and 2.48 million metric tons of condensate (19.6 million barrels) against 7.73 billion cubic meters of gas and 2 million metric tons of condensate in 2012.

The shareholders are: BP, operator (28.8 percent), Statoil (15.5 percent), NICO (10 percent), Total (10 percent), Lukoil (10 percent), TPAO (9 percent) and SOCAR (16.7 percent). These percentages include the recent purchases of equity from Statoil by BP and SOCAR.

Earlier, Total has entered into an agreement to sell its interest in Shah Deniz to TPAO. After the transaction is over, the share of the latter in the project will be 19 percent.

Moreover, Norway's Statoil company has sold its 15.5-percent share in the Shah Deniz project, to the Malaysian oil and gas company Petronas. The transaction is expected to close early 2015.

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