Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb.19
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
Canada’s Zenith Energy will install Electrical Submersible Pump (ESP) of Russian production at Azerbaijan’s block of oil fields Muradkhanli-Jafarli-Zardab by the end of May 2018, Trend learned from the company.
The company's ESP upgrade program involves the installation of latest-generation electrical submersible pumps across the Muradkhanli and Jafarli oilfields, said a source in Zenith Energy.
“The original program had envisaged the ESP replacement across 11 wells, however, this has now been increased to include at least 13 wells. The purpose of the program is to stabilize existing production from the selected wells and lessen the likelihood of production outages resulting from earlier generation ESP technology,” said the company.
The company confirms that to date it has successfully installed seven electrical submersible pumps.
“While this has resulted in an uplift in production, it has also reduced production downtime that had been observed as a recurrent problem with the previous generation ESPs. Zenith is awaiting arrival of the remaining six ESPs to complete the ESP program,” said the source.
As announced previously, difficulties have been encountered in the procurement of new electrical submersible pumps from suppliers. In order to resolve these difficulties, the company has signed a procurement contract with a third supplier, Russian Novomet, a leading international supplier of ESP technology.
‘’It is expected that all 13 ESPs will be installed by the end of May, 2018. Zenith is continuously monitoring production and it is likely that the number of wells included in the ESP upgrade program will be increased further,” said the source.
Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR and Zenith Aran Oil Company signed a Rehabilitation, Exploration, Development and Production Sharing Agreement (REDPSA) in March 2016 for a block that includes the Muradkhanli, Jafarli and Zardab oilfields. These fields cover an area of 642.2 square kilometers. Production under the agreement began in August of 2016.
Zenith holds a 80-percent participating interest in the three fields within the contract area, while SOCAR retains the remaining 20 percent. The duration of the agreement is 25 years, with a potential extension of five additional years.
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