Azerbaijan, Baku, 12 March /corr. Trend S.Aliyev / LUKoil-VolgogradNIPImorneft OJSC produced a draft document on the environmental impact on drilling the second exploration in D-222 (Yalama) a prospective block located in the Azerbaijani part of the Caspian Sea, according to the company. The hearings on the environmental impact document will take place in April.
Drilling which will be carried out by the Overseas Operating Company Ltd. - the operator of the project on exploration and development of D-222 is planned to commence in November with the rig named after Heydar Aliyev, which belongs to the Danish company Maersk.
The second exploration well is 2650 meters in depth. It will be drilled at a distance of 22 km from the first exploration well. In November 2007 a geological engineering survey at a depth of 656- 720 meters was held in the envisaged area of drilling.
In 2005 LUKOIL drilled the first well in Yalama at a depth of 4400 meters. During the drilling, small volumes of hydrocarbons was discovered which did not have any commercial interests for the company.
The contract on development of Yalama (block D-222) was signed on 3 July 1997. D-222 block is part of Yalama structure which is located in equal parts of the Azerbaijani and Russian sectors of the Caspian Sea 30km offshore at a depth of from 80 to 700m.
In 2003, a set of agreements on the development of D-222, envisaging an increase of LUKOIL's share in the project to 80% and expansion of the contracted area to 3,000sq km, was signed. In 2006, the contracted area was reduced to 1,300sq km and the exploration period was extended to 1 November 2009.
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