Azerbaijan, Baku, June 20 / Trend, E. Ismayilov /
British BP, which is a technical operator of the Shah Deniz field's development, has started preparations for drilling a sidehole of the SDA03 producing well, a source in oil and gas market said on Monday.
He said work was carried out to move the drilling rig to begin drilling operations.
"Kickoff of the sidehole will take about a month, after which drilling will start," the source said.
He said kickoff of the sidehole will be done at a depth of 3,500 meters.
As it was reported earlier, BP plans to complete drilling of a gas producer well - SDA03z in the first quarter of 2012. Earlier SDA-03 well was partially closed due to bad technical conditions.
Peak production is forecasted at over 8.6-9 billion cubic meters. It is planned that in the second stage of field development, gas production can be brought up to 25 billion cubic meters a year.
The Shah Deniz field's gas reserves are estimated at 1.2 billion cubic meters, while condensate - 240 million tons.
The contract to develop the offshore Shah Deniz field was signed June 4, 1996. Participants to the agreement are: BP (operator) - 25.5 percent, Statoil - 25.5 percent, NICO - 10 percent, Total - 10 percent, LukAgip - 10 percent, TPAO - 9 percent, SOCAR-10 percent.