Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 19
By Maksim Tsurkov – Trend:
The first flow of gas at the big Absheron field is planned for late 2019, Khoshbakht Yusifzade, first vice president of Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR, said in an article published in the Respublika newspaper Sept. 19.
The Absheron field is located in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea.
Yusifzade said that starting from the end of this year, exploration drilling at the Absheron field will be continued.
The drilling will be carried out using the “Heydar Aliyev” semi-submersible floating rig.
“Currently, a PSA contractor is preparing an updated program for the field’s development,” Yusifzade said. “The program is expected to be submitted to SOCAR in November.”
Earlier, SOCAR and Total signed a framework agreement on the main contractual and commercial principles regulating the first phase of Absheron’s development.
The first phase of the field’s development envisages drilling one well at a sea depth of 450 meters. The gas output will be up to 1.5 billion cubic meters per year, which will be used in Azerbaijan’s domestic market.
Total is expected to adopt a final investment decision on Absheron before late 2017.
The approximate cost of the first phase is $1 billion.
Absheron’s reserves are estimated at 350 billion cubic meters of gas and 45 million tons of condensate.
The Absheron project will be operated by the Joint Operating Company Absheron Petroleum (50 percent SOCAR, 50 percent Total).