Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov.29 / Trend, E. Ismayilov /
In January 2012, company Caspian Geophysical will complete the three-dimensional geophysical studies on the prospective block "Shafag-Asiman" in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea, a source in oil and gas market told Trend. The operations are conducted from the geophysical vessel "Gilavar."
He said the company has recently begun operations at sea and now they are underway.
"The operations should be completed in mid-January. But everything will depend on weather conditions," the source said.
According to the contract, BP has taken on greater responsibility for the work on this block because it is located at a water depth of 750 meters. The projected reserves of Shafag Asiman are 500 billion cubic meters of gas and 65 million tons of condensate, SOCAR First Vice-President Khoshbakht Yusifzade said earlier.
BP-Azerebaijan and Caspian Geophysical signed a contract to carry out 3D-seismic in May.
The SOCAR and BP signed the PSA on "Shafag-Asiman" for a period of 30 years. The exploration period is 4 years with possible prolongation for another 3 years. The first stage of exploration works envisions drilling of two wells. The second one assumes drilling of two more wells, if necessary. As the sides go over to the production stage, they will operate the project jointly. The two companies hold equal interests in the project.
"Shafag" and "Asiman" structures are located 125 kilometers to the south-east of Baku. SOCAR and BP signed a memorandum on "Mutual understanding" on the joint exploration and development of "Shafag" and "Asiman" in London in July 2009. Exploration work has not been conducted on the block before.