Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 5
By Aygun Badalova - Trend:
French Total considers the possibility to use a new modern drilling rig that is currently being for the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) in the works at Absheron gas and condensate field, Denis Lemarchal, Managing Director of Total Azerbaijan told Trend on November 5.
"Using the rig that is currently being built for SOCAR is one of the options", Lemarchal said.
However he said, that it is too early to speak about it, adding that the company is discussing the issue with SOCAR in order to see what is the best option.
Another option, which is also on the table, is to build a new drilling rig, Lemarchal said, adding that the company currently is in talks with SOCAR over the best scheme for the issue.
The work for construction of a new modern drilling rig for SOCAR started in 2013, and is expected to be completed by the end of 2016. The new rig is designed for drilling wells at a depth of up to 8,000 meters and at a water depth of 1,000 meters.
In particular, the rig will be used for drilling at prospective structures and fields in Azerbaijan, such as the Umid field and the promising structures Babek, Karabakh, Ashrafi and others.
The cost of the new modern drilling rig construction project is $1,116,700,000.
Lemarchal, with regards to the Absheron field, said that the field's production is expected to start in 2021.
The discovery of the large Absheron natural gas field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian was announced in September 2011, following the drilling of an exploration well.
The field's potential reserves amount to 350 billion cubic meters of gas and 45 million metric tons of condensate.
The participants of the Absheron project include SOCAR with a share of 40 percent and French company Total with 40 percent and Gaz De France Suez with 20 percent.
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