BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb.6
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
In the Shallow Water Absheron Peninsula planning for the exploration wells drilling in the selected three prospective areas is ongoing with the view to commence drilling activities later this year once the upgrade of the rig selected to drill the first well is completed, Trend reports with reference to BP Azerbaijan.
“On the Shafag-Asiman offshore block, the first exploration well was spudded on 13 January 2020. The well is expected to take around nine months to drill. Following this, the well data will be analyzed and, if successful, an evaluation program may be conducted to confirm the results,” said BP.
As the company said, on D230, a 3D seismic acquisition programme commenced in December 2019.
“These activities are currently ongoing. It is expected that the programme will be completed in the 1st half of 2020. This will be followed by the processing and interpretation of the acquired data. Based on the results of the seismic survey we will begin planning of the first exploration well in 2020,” said the report.
Shallow Water Absheron Peninsula (SWAP) is a prospective block around the Absheron Peninsula in Azerbaijan.
The production sharing agreement (PSA) between SOCAR and BP for geological exploration and development of promising structures in shallow waters around Azerbaijan’s Absheron Peninsula was signed on December 22, 2014.
On April 26, 2018, SOCAR and BP signed a PSA for joint exploration of the prospective block D230 in the North Absheron basin in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea.
The parties have equal equity shares in the agreement.
SOCAR and BP signed a contract on the Shafag-Asiman block for a period of 30 years in October 2010. The forecast reserves of the Shafag-Asiman block stand at 500 billion cubic meters of gas and 65 million tons of condensate.
The block lies some 125 kilometers (78 miles) to the South-East of Baku. It covers an area of some 1100 square kilometers and has never been explored before. It is located in a deepwater section of about 650-800 meters with reservoir depth of about 7000 meters.
---
Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn