BAKU, Azerbaijan, Aug.27
By Nargiz Ismayilova – Trend:
The joint activity of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) and BP Azerbaijan on drilling an exploratory well at the Shafag-Asiman structure is being successfully promoted, Deputy Head of the Event Management and Public Relations Department of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) Ibrahim Ahmadov told Trend.
According to Ahmadov, the drilling is carried out by the team of the SOCAR drilling company - Caspian Drilling Company (CDC), through the SOCAR semi-submersible drilling rig named after Heydar Aliyev.
"The drilling depth has recently topped the level of 3,000 meters," he said.
BP and SOCAR signed a new production sharing agreement (PSA) on joint exploration and development of the Shafag-Asiman structure in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea in October 2010.
At the first stage, plans are to drill two wells. If necessary, two additional wells can be drilled in the second stage. Following the transition to the operational period, the parties will jointly operate the project. Under the PSA, BP will be the operator with 50 percent interest while SOCAR will hold the remaining 50 percent equity.
The projected reserves of the Shafag-Asiman block make up 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 has never been explored before. It is located in a deepwater section of about 650-800 meters with a reservoir depth of about 7000 meters.
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