Baku, Azerbaijan, June 2
By Maksim Tsurkov – Trend:
First production from the Shafag-Asiman offshore block of gas fields in Azerbaijan may begin in 2030, said Bahram Huseynov, vice president for geology and geophysics at the Azerbaijani state oil company SOCAR.
He made the remarks June 2 at the 24th International Caspian Oil & Gas Exhibition and Conference 2017 in Baku.
Huseynov said it is planned to start drilling the first exploration well at the Shafag-Asiman block in 2019.
“The block's reserves are estimated at about 500 billion cubic meters of gas. We believe the first production there can begin in 2030,” he added.
SOCAR and BP signed a contract on the Shafag-Asiman block of fields for a period of 30 years in October 2010. The exploration period is four years with possibility of extension for three more years.
Bahram Huseynov further said that SOCAR is currently preparing a project for drilling the first exploration well at the prospective Babek structure.
“If the results got after drilling the exploration well are positive, SOCAR will, at the first stage, build a platform and drill 4-5 wells for production there. The gas production itself can begin in 2024-2025 at Babek field,” he explained.
According to preliminary data, reserves of the prospective Babek field may be 400 billion cubic meters of gas and 80 million tons of condensate.