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Project Manager: Total to complete drilling of exploration wells on Absheron structure in April-May 2011 (PHOTO)

Oil&Gas Materials 10 June 2010 11:58 (UTC +04:00)
The French Company Total plans to complete the drilling of exploration well in the prospective gas condensate structure "Absheron" in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea in April-May 2011, Project manager "Absheron" Total E & P Apsheron BV Jean Carriay said today at the presentation of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report.
Project Manager: Total to complete drilling of exploration wells on Absheron structure in April-May 2011 (PHOTO)

Azerbaijan, Baku, June 10 / Trend E.Ismayilov /

The French Company Total plans to complete the drilling of exploration well in the prospective gas condensate structure "Absheron" in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea in April-May 2011, Project manager "Absheron" Total E & P Apsheron BV Jean Carriay said today at the presentation of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report.

The company is expected to launch drilling in September 2010. Drilling will be carried out with the Heydar Aliyev Rig and Maersk Drilling will be operator of the project, Carriay said.

Based on the forecast, the company plans to drill 5,000 meters by late 2010 and reach the reservoir by January-February of 2011. Drilling will be carried out at depths of 470-480 meters of water. The depth of wells will be 7,100-7,200 meters. The bloc's structure is characterized by high pressure, he said.

Carriay said the company signed service contracts with companies such as AA services - EKO LLL, Fugro, Blue, Murphy, Schlumberger and others under the drilling of wells.

Carriay said the company is also concerned over problems that BP faced in the Gulf of Mexico,. "Therefore, we must pursue our work very carefully," he added.

According to forecasts of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR), the reserves of the Absheron structure are estimated at 300 billion cubic meters of gas and 45 million tons of condensate.

The Absheron bloc is located about 100 km from Baku at a depth of 500 meters.

Absheron project Participants includes SOCAR (State Oil Company of Azerbaijan) - 40 percent, the French company Total - 40 percent and Gaz De France Suez - 20 percent. The contract on the Absheron field signed Feb. 27, 2009 between SOCAR and Total. Later Total sold 20 percent of its equity participation in the contract to the company Gaz De France Suez.

This is the second attempt of foreign companies to start production of commercially attractive hydrocarbon prospective structure "Absheron". In 1997, the first PSA contract was signed for exploration and development of this area. The contract was signed between SOCAR and U.S. ChevronTexaco. SOCAR has received 50 percent of equity participation, U.S. ChevronTexaco (30 percent - the company was the operator of the project) and TOTAL - 20 percent. But after drilling, reserves were considered commercially unattractive, after which the contract was closed.

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