Azerbaijan, Baku, May 22 /Trend E.Ismayilov/
Appraisal well SDX-07a in the gas-condensate field Shah Deniz is temporarily closed down, the source of oil and gas market told Trend. The operator of the field development project is BP.
The source said the depth of the appraisal well is 4940 meters.
The main reason for the temporary conservation of the well is the process of certification, which is passed by floating drilling rig Istiglal, which was caring out the drilling.
"Drilling of appraisal well will be resumed after the completion of the certification by October this year" the source said. The design depth of the well is 6300-6400 meters.
Floating drilling rig Istiglal will be used in the drilling of shallow wells in the field Shah Deniz despite the passage of certification. Six wells with a depth of 1200-1300 meters will be drilled from this rig in the frame of pre-drilling program.
Two offshore platforms will be installed and more than 20 subsea wells will be drilled for the production of an additional 16 billion cubic meters of gas a year under the Shah Deniz-2. Peak production from the field in the first stage of development is projected at nine billion cubic meters. It is predicted that gas production can be brought up to 24 billion cubic meters a year in the second stage of field development.
Gas reserves of Shah Deniz field are estimated at 1.2 trillion cubic meters.
The contract to develop the offshore Shah Deniz field was signed on June 4, 1996. Participants to the agreement are: BP (operator) - 25.5 per cent, Statoil - 25.5 per cent, NICO - 10 per cent, Total - 10 per cent, LukAgip - 10 per cent, TPAO - nine per cent and SOCAR-10 percent.