Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov. 13 / Trend E.Ismayilov /
Drilling in Absheron gas field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea will start after commission of a new rig, the construction of which SOCAR (State Oil Company of Azerbaijan) is planning to begin, a source in oil and gas market told Trend.
"First of all, the new rig will be involved in the work of SOCAR, in particular a possible drilling in the Umid and the start of exploration drilling in Babak prospective structure," the source said.
Upon completion of this work the rig may be involved in work in Absheron field , the discovery of which was announced in September 2011. According to the source, this is not a delay in the development of the deposit.
"Before the start of drilling implementation of more work, research and training is needed in the field, which requires a quite considerable amount of time - about a few years," the source said.
According to the source, extraction of the first gas from the Absheron field will take place in 2019-2020.
Results of the first exploration in the well indicate the presence of commercially attractive gas and condensate.
The participants of Absheron project are SOCAR - 40 percent, French companies Total - 40 percent and Gaz De France Suez - 20 percent.
The contract on Absheron structure was signed on February 27, 2009 between SOCAR and Total. Later Total sold 20 percent of its share in the contract to Gaz De France Suez