Azerbaijan, Baku, April 14 / Trend /
The operating company Salyan Oil, dealing with production of oil at two onshore fields of Azerbaijan, postponed drilling of the first exploitation well by mid-May, a source on the oil and gas market said.
"Drilling was to begin in March. Drilling was postponed due to some technical issues arising from the drilling rig, which is already in Azerbaijan", a source said.
Project depth will hit 3,500 meters. It will be laid on the field "Garabagly", which is a part of the contract area "Kursengi-Garabagly". Salyan Oil planned drilling of two wells this year. Drilling of the third extra well was not excluded. The decision will depend on the results of drilling of the first two wells.
The company will drill only production wells as Salyan Oil has already fulfilled contractual obligations to drill three exploratory wells. The budget of the operating company for 2010 is $ 27 million.
In 2009, Salyan Oil drilled four production wells in the contract area. Currently, oil production from oil fields "Kursengi" and "Garabagly" is about 640-650 tons per day compared to 1,000 tons per day several years earlier. It is explained by the natural decline of oil production in these long-developed fields and the need to drill very deep wells.
The deposits are located in Salyan Region of Azerbaijan (150 km from Baku). According to some experts, the residual oil in the contract area exceed 150 million tons.
The agreement to develop onshore deposits "Kursengi-Garabagly" is 25 years. The shareholders of the project are: SOCAR - 50 percent, two Chinese companies - China National Oil & Gas Exploration and Development Corp. (CNODC) and Fal Chin, owning 25 percent.