BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 17
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
The development plan of Azerbaijan’s Karabagh field may be revised depending on the positive results from new perspective oil and gas structures, Trend reports citing Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR.
To this end, working groups of SOCAR and Norway’s Equinor will in coming weeks review various options for the further development of Karabagh field. They will also look into the possibility of developing the Karabagh field in synergy with other new fields.
The Karabagh prospective structure was identified in 1959 as a result of seismic surveys. It was specified in 1984 and its oil and gas reserves were confirmed in 1997-1998 through exploration drilling. The oilfield is located 120 km east of Baku, at a depth of 150-200 meters in the open sea.
The consortium operated by Caspian International Petroleum Company (CIPCO) drilled three exploration wells in the Karabagh PSA signed in 1995: two wells found gas in the southeast portion of the structure and the third well indicated presence of oil in the western part of the structure. In 1999, the PSA was terminated due to the non-commercial discovery.
In May 2018, SOCAR Karabagh and Equinor signed a Risk Service Agreement related to development of Karabagh Oil Field in the Azerbaijan Sector of Caspian Sea. According to the agreement, they hold equal shares.
Since 1994, SOCAR and Equinor have been cooperating in important joint projects, including the operating of the Azeri Chirag and Deep Water Gunashli (ACG) oil field.
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