Azerbaijan, Baku, July 23 / Trend, E.Ismayilov /
In August, the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) plans to begin drilling of the third well on the Umid field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea, a source at SOCAR told Trend on Monday.
The source said that an underwater gas pipeline is under construction to ensure gas supply onshore from the platform at the field.
"The preparation operations are underway," the source said. "Drilling the third well in the "Umid" field can begin in August."
As SOCAR First Vice-President on Geology, Geophysics and Development Khoshbakht Yusifzadeh said earlier, the company will complete laying of an underwater gas pipeline to transport gas to shore from the Umid field by late August. The field's discovery was announced in 2010.
According to SOCAR, the results of drilling the first exploratory well suggest that the reserve's volume exceeds 200 billion cubic meters of gas and 40 million tons of condensate.
The Umid Field is located 75 kilometres from Baku. In 1953 the first geophysical works were carried out. They were repeated in 1972 in a somewhat improved form. From 1977 to 1992, nine wells were drilled with negative results.