Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov. 25 / Trend /
Azerbaijan's promising gas reserves could hit at least 2 trillion cubic meters, SOCAR Vice President on Geology, Geophysics and Mining Khoshbakht Yusifzade said during Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's meeting with the company to discuss the opening of the Umid gas field on the Caspian Sea, the AzerTAj state agency reported today.
"In general, based on the results, I can say confidently that if we have 2 trillion cubic meters of proven natural gas reserves, then there will be a minimum of 2 trillion cubic meters of promising reserves," Yusifzade said.
He added that the reserves of the promising Babak offshore structure alone could reach 400-600 billion cubic meters of gas.
The first well drilled at the Umid Field shows that Babak is twice as large, he said.
"Strong results from Umid mean that Babak is twice as big," he said. "As Babak is situated lower, its reserves must be twice as much as Umid's. So, if Umid's reserves are 200 billion cubic meters, then Babak's are 400 billion."
According to Yusifzade, SOCAR is confident that there are 200 billion cubic meters of gas and 30-40 million tons of condensate at Umid. According to data received from the first exploratory well drilled on the field, total reserves are 250 billion cubic meters.
"Now, Umid has only one well," he said. "This well was drilled in the sea area, where there is a depth of 170 meters. After commissioning this well, we will continue our work. I think that if we achieve good results and acquire more experience, then we will conduct works at Babak ourselves."
The Umid Field is located 75 kilometers from Baku - 40 kilomters from land. In 1953, the first geophysical works were carried out at the field. They were repeated in 1972 in a somewhat improved form. From 1977 to 1992, nine wells were drilled without result.