Azerbaijan, Baku, Aug. 22 / Trend E.Ismayilov /
In the first quarter of 2012, the British company BP, which is the technical operator of project on the development the Shah Deniz gas field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea, will complete the drilling of appraisal well SDX-07, BP said in a report on the first half.
"The SDX7A was spud in March 2011 and is expected to be complete in the first quarter of 2012," the report reads.
A source in oil and gas market said earlier that the well depth must hit 6,300-6,400 meters as a result of drilling.
BP previously began drilling the SDX-07 well, but operations were suspended due to problems of launching the casing string.
The source said that the process of elimination SDX-07 well has been already completed, which enabled to begin drilling of the second well.
Two offshore platforms will be installed and 30 underwater wells will be drilled to extract additional 16 billion cubic meters of gas per year within the Shah Deniz -2 project.
Peak production is forecasted at over 8.6-9 billion cubic meters. It is planned that in the second stage of field development, gas production can be brought up to 25 billion cubic meters a year.
The Shah Deniz field's gas reserves are estimated at 1.2 billion cubic meters, while condensate - 240 million tons.
The contract to develop the offshore Shah Deniz field was signed June 4, 1996. Participants to the agreement are: BP (operator) - 25.5 percent, Statoil - 25.5 percent, NICO - 10 percent, Total - 10 percent, LukAgip - 10 percent, TPAO - 9 percent, SOCAR-10 percent.