Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec.25
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
Drilling of the first well at Azerbaijan’s large gas field Absheron in the Caspian Sea may be delayed, a source in the country’s oil and gas market told Trend.
“So far, there are no delays in the drilling, which should start by late January 2018. However, the Caspian Drilling Company (CDC), operator of semi-submersible drilling rig named after Heydar Aliyev, which will be used for drilling operations at Absheron field, may need few weeks more before being fully ready,” said the source.
The source pointed out that neither contractual nor technical issues have been identified.
Earlier, Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR and TOTAL signed a framework agreement on the main contractual and commercial principles regulating the program of the first phase of Absheron field’s development.
The first phase of the field’s development envisages drilling of one well at a sea depth of 450 meters. The production will stand at up to 1.5 billion cubic meters of gas per year and these volumes, coupled with considerable amount of condensate will be used in Azerbaijan’s domestic market. In the second phase, it is planned to produce up to 4 billion cubic meters of gas per year.
TOTAL specialists estimate the reserve of Absheron field to stand at 326 billion cubic meters of gas and 108 million tons of condensate.
JOCAP, with 50 percent share held by SOCAR and TOTAL each, will be the operator of Absheron project.
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