Large Operating Company on Offshore Oil and Gas Production Sets up New Drilling Well

Azerbaijan, Baku, 18 January / corr Trend S.Aliyev / Salyan Oil, the largest operating company with foreign participation, which is involved in oil production from the Kursangi-Garabaghly onshore fields in Azerbaijan, has set up a new drilling well on Kursangi field, the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR). The depth of the well is approximately 4,000 meters.

In 2008 the operating company intends to drill 6 exploitation wells with a depth of approximately 3,500-4,000 m. This year the budget of the company was defined at $45.5mln.

In 2007 the company drilled 6 wells (with one passed from 2006), including one exploration well.

The budget of Salyan Oil made up $43mln in 2007. A 25- year production-sharing agreement on the development of Kursangi and Garabaghly oil fields was signed in December 1998. Salyan Oil was set up a year later and is currently owned by the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), with 50% interest, as well as Chinese companies, China National Oil (CNODC) and CNPC (Hong Kong) Ltd. (CNPCHK), each holding a 25% stake.