BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 30
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
The drilling of the first Shafag-Asiman exploration well has been completed to the base of the Fasila reservoir to a depth of 7189 metres, BP Azerbaijan told Trend.
“We can confirm we logged gas condensate resource in the penetrated reservoirs.
We are pleased to have encountered gas condensate, but the resource will need further evaluation. We have therefore suspended the well to allow us to evaluate its results and consider our next steps for appraisal, potentially including a sidetrack appraisal well.
So, this means that we need first to evaluate what we have encountered in order to fully understand what is the best option for our next steps,” said the company.
Geological exploration work at the Shafag-Asiman block is being carried out as part of the joint project of SOCAR and BP. In accordance with the Production Sharing Agreement, drilling was operated by BP at a depth of 623 meters and was carried out by SOCAR's subsidiary Caspian Drilling Company using a semi-submersible drilling rig named after Heydar Aliyev. Drilling began on January 11, 2020.
Shafag-Asiman field is located 125 km south-east of Baku. The block covers an area of 1,100 square meters. The sea depth here is 650-800 meters Shafag-Asiman was discovered in 1961. On October 7, 2010, SOCAR and BP signed an agreement "On exploration, development and production sharing of the Shafag-Asiman offshore block in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea." The agreement is valid for 30 years. In accordance with the agreement, in 2012 BP conducted a 3D seismic survey at the Shafag-Asiman block. Based on the processing and interpretation of the received data, the partners determined the location of the first exploration well and started drilling the well in 2020.
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