BAKU, Azerbaijan, Dec. 24
By Anastasia Savchenko - Trend:
This year, completion of drilling of the main well at the Absheron field in the Caspian Sea, which will later be used for products’ extraction at this field, became an important result as part of cooperation of Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR with the French Total company, Ibrahim Ahmadov, deputy head of the SOCAR Public Relations and Event Management Department, told Trend Dec. 24.
Ahmadov was commenting on the issue of SOCAR’s cooperation with the French Total oil and gas company this year under the Absheron project.
The deputy head noted that the well consisted of two shafts, the first of which was designed for assessment of the potential of the Absheron field.
“The depth of this shaft was 7,411 meters,” Ahmadov reminded. “Our semi-submersible drilling rig named after Heydar Aliyev was used.”
The deputy head also added that this well became the deepest well in the Caspian Sea.
“The depth of the second shaft was 6,800 meters,” said Ahmadov. “The drilling was finally completed in October this year.”
The deputy head noted that SOCAR is preparing for the start of gas and gas condensate extraction at the Absheron field.
“The first product is planned to be received in 2021, when the construction of infrastructure, communications, a platform and a transshipment point at the Oil Rocks will be completed,” Ahmadov said. “The product will be transported along one pipe using a pipe-in-pipe technology to the transshipment point at the Oil Rocks, and then on land to the terminal.”
The participants of the Absheron project include SOCAR and the French Total, with 50 percent each. The Engie company, which previously owned a 20 percent equity stake, withdrew from the project in June 2017.
The Absheron contract was signed Feb. 27, 2009 between SOCAR and Total.
The operator of the Absheron project is JOCAP joint company, in which SOCAR and Total have equal shares.
Drilling at the field was conducted by Caspian Drilling Company (CDC).
Absheron’s reserves are estimated at 326 billion cubic meters of gas and 108 million tons of condensate, according to TOTAL company's specialists.