Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 28 / Trend E. Ismayilov /
The British company BP, the technical operator of the project on the development of the Shah Deniz gas field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea, may commission a new, fifth well in the area under the contract in January - February 2011, a source in the oil and gas market said on Tuesday.
The work is currently underway on the development of the wells, reaching depths up to 6,959 meters, the source said.
"The new production well could go into operation in late January - early February next year," the source indicated.
Currently, gas production from the field comes from four wells. The daily production of gas from the Shah Deniz platform at this stage runs at 20-23 million cubic meters. With the new wells operating, production can reach 25-26 billion cubic meters per day.
Forecasts indicate that at its peak production could deliver over 8.6-9 billion cubic meters. Gas production may be brought up to 25 billion cubic meters per year under the second phase of development.
Reserves in the Shah Deniz field are estimated at 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas.
The contract to develop Shah Deniz was signed in June 1996. The participants are: BP (operator) 25.5 percent; Statoil , 25.5 percent; NICO, 10 percent; Total, 10 percent; LukAgip, 10 percent; TPAO, 9 percent; and SOCAR, 10 percent.
Now gas from the field gets transported to Georgia and Turkey via the South Caucasus gas pipeline.