Azerbaijan, Baku, 30 April / Trend corr. S.Aliyev / During first quarter of 2008, 1.8bln cu m of gas was produced from the gas condensate Shah Deniz field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea. The company's plan for Shah Deniz for 2008, is to produce 7.7 billion cubic meters of gas and 1.9 million tonnes of condensate for the complete year. Oil production peak from the field (8.6bln cu m of gas) is expected in 2009.
In 2008, the company is expected to continue the appraisal activities at the field by drilling the SDX-5 appraisal well. This well supports the planning for the second stage of Shah Deniz. Drilling will be implemented by the drilling rig Istiglal.
SDX-4 has also discovered a new high pressure reservoir in a deeper structure below the currently producing reservoir.
The exploration discovery represented a potentially significant discovery and we plan to conduct further appraisal to fully delineate the new structure in the next few years.
Results from the well data analysis confirmed sufficient gas at Shah Deniz for the second stage of development. Although further work is required to define this second phase it will likely be similar or larger than stage 1 -- 8.6 bcma (billion cubic metres a year).
Presently, the gas from the field is being transported to Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgia.
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