Baku, Azerbaijan, April 18
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
Canada’s Zenith Energy, which is the operator for development of Muradkhanli-Jafarli-Zardab block of oil fields onshore Azerbaijan, will start the drilling campaign with the new BD-260 drilling rig soon, said Andrea Cattaneo, Chief Executive Officer of the company, Trend reports.
“The start of drilling is a matter of days. As we said, after the rigging up, which will take additional two weeks, there will be just preparatory activities for the drilling and then the drilling will start. We have only a mini drilling, which is only 500 meters in well C-37 that is one of the few wells that are showing integrity, and with this integrity we can then base our activity in a deepening operation rather than a new well from zero. We will drill on the area that has not been producing for many years,” he told Total Market Solutions.
Cattaneo went on to add that deep drilling will be in autumn after second C-40 deepening.
“Those two wells [C-37 and C-40] are creating a fantastic opportunity, because they have integrity. Both of them are in Jafarli. Then we will make a decision on the location of Zen-1, which will be our fully newly drilled well of 2019. The drilling campaign will take two months and a half,” he added.
Cattaneo noted that the company can buy more rigs depending on the requirement of its geological portfolio.
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 oil fields. Zenith Energy Ltd established its subsidiary company Zenith Aran Oil Company Ltd for production operations in these three fields. Production under the agreement began in August 2016.
Zenith holds an 80-percent participating interest in the three fields within the contract area, while SOCAR retains the remaining 20 percent. The agreement is for 25 years, with a potential extension by five additional years.
The total area of the Muradkhanli, Jafarli and Zardab fields is 642.2 square kilometers, and according to the contract, it is divided into rehabilitation and exploration territories.
The Muradkhanli-Jafarli-Zardab block is located in the Yevlakh-Agjabadi oil and gas region of Imishli district of Azerbaijan. The Muradkhanli field was discovered in 1971, Jafarli - in 1984, and Zardab - in 1981.
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