Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept. 9 / Trend E.Ismayilov /
The British company BP, which is the technical operator of project on the development the Shah Deniz gas field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea, resumes drilling the appraisal well SDX-07a within the large-scale field development, a source on the oil and gas market said.
A source said that drilling operations were suspended in connection with the inspection at the Istiqlal rig.
The well depth must hit 6,300-6,400 meters as a result of drilling.
"Drilling operations have been restored, a source said. "The borehole bottom is 4,075 meters."
Two offshore platforms will be installed and 30 underwater wells will be drilled to extract additional 16 billion cubic meters of gas per year within the Shah Deniz -2 project.
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.