BAKU, Azerbaijan, Dec. 9
By Anastasia Savchenko- Trend:
The President of Azerbaijan’s State Oil Company SOCAR Rovnag Abdullayev met with a delegation of the French company TOTAL on December 6, led by Arnaud Breuillac, President of the Upstream Division, Trend reports referring to the State Oil Company.
During the meeting, the achievements of SOCAR and TOTAL in the implementation of Absheron project, as well as measures for sustainable cooperation at the level of current efficiency were discussed.
During the meeting, it was noted that well drilling works at the Absheron field was completed. The well was drilled by the SOCAR`s semi-submersible drilling rig named after Heydar Aliyev.
Purposed for assessment and production, this well has been drilled to a depth of 7,411 meters and is currently the deepest well in the Caspian Sea.
Breuillac noted that Absheron project is TOTAL's biggest discovery in ten years.
Absheron is one of the largest gas and condensate fields in Azerbaijan.
The parties agreed that operator of Absheron project, JOCAP joint company, in which SOCAR and TOTAL have equal shares, further will manage this project.
Abdullayev noted that taking into account the fact that Azerbaijan currently has such a huge infrastructure as the Southern Gas Corridor, the infrastructure for developing fields and selling of products extracted from various fields, can become a condition for bringing products to foreign markets.
He said that it is an important contribution to the development of Absheron and other fields, affecting the commercial advantage of Azerbaijan and SOCAR, as well as the profitability of the project.
The meeting participants discussed the prospects for exploration in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian. It was pointed out that the large-scale exploration project planning in Azerbaijan at the initiative of SOCAR and with the participation of various companies can cover the whole country, due to which the oil and gas potential of Azerbaijan will be fully specified.
Participants of Absheron project are SOCAR and TOTAL, which hold 50 percent each in the project. Engie company, which previously held 20 percent of the project, left it in June of 2017.
Contract for Absheron was signed on February 27, 2009 between SOCAR and TOTAL.
Drilling operations at the field were carried out by the Caspian Drilling Company (CDC).
Drilling of two wells for evaluation and production was completed this year.
All undersea equipment that is necessary for the export of products from the shore is currently located in Azerbaijan.
Through the created undersea infrastructure, the product will be directed to the receiving platforms of Oil Rocks, and from there to the coast.
In 2021, it is planned to complete installation works and production of the first products. The first volumes of gas will be used in Azerbaijan’s domestic market.
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