Baku, Azerbaijan, May 21
By Leman Zeynalova - Trend:
Canada’s Zenith Energy is in talks for contracting a rig to complete well workover onshore Azerbaijan, Trend learned from the company.
Zenith Energy is the operator of Muradkhanli-Jafarli-Zardab, the largest onshore block of oil fields in Azerbaijan.
“Zenith confirms that it is currently in negotiations for the contracting of a ZJ-30 150-ton workover rig to complete the Z-21 workover. An update will be provided when the rig has been mobilised to the well location,” said the company.
Zenith Energy also intends to use this rig for the workover of Z-3, where historical records indicate 775 meters of tubing has been left in the well, and for the completion of the Z-28 workover, where 69 meters of tubing require milling out before the well is cleaned out to total depth, 3,944 meters.
“As announced on May 8, 2018, Zenith has pulled out a mixed string, comprised of 2 3/8" and 2 7/8" tubing, totalling 3,504 metres, as well as all of the 4 5" tubing, totalling 1,500 metres, using its A-80 workover rig. In addition, in the period since the aforementioned update, 111 metres of tubing from 3,504-3,615 metres has been successfully cleaned out. Zenith has been unable to run wash pipe beyond the depth of 3,615 metres to fish the remaining 166 metres of 2 3/8" tubing in the wellbore due to an unforeseen change in the tubing diameter. The change in tubing diameter was undocumented in any Z-21 well data,” said the company.
The Company now intends to pull the entire tubing string out of the well. It has been determined that a more powerful rig will be required to perform the task. “Once this is completed, Zenith's field personnel plans to run in hole with a drill bit and clean out the casing to the well's total depth, 3,982 metres, and subsequently perform a production test.”
The larger rig will also have the capacity to deepen well Z-21 beyond the Maykop formation into the Eocene formation by drilling an additional 300 metres, extending the well's total depth to approximately 4,270-4,300 meters.
As announced on May 8, 2018, the final decision on the deepening of Z-21 will depend on the outcomes of the production tests to be performed once the casing has been cleaned out to the well's current total depth.
The company will not perform any drilling operations in Z-21 if a satisfactory rate of production were to be achieved from the Maykop formation.
“The primary reason for the evaluation of this possibility is the proximity of Z-21 to well Z-3, spud in 1979 and drilled to a total depth of 4,300 metres into the Eocene and Upper Cretaceous formations. Z-3 tested approximately 2,900 barrels of mixed hydrocarbons per day before the wellbore collapsed,” said the company.
Canada’s Zenith Energy, which is the operator of Muradkhanli-Jafarli-Zardab, the largest onshore block of oil fields in Azerbaijan,
Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR and Zenith Aran Oil Company signed a Rehabilitation, Exploration, Development and Production Sharing Agreement (REDPSA) in March 2016 for a block that includes the Muradkhanli, Jafarli and Zardab oilfields. These fields cover an area of 642.2 square kilometers. Production under the agreement began in August of 2016.
Zenith holds a 80-percent participating interest in the three fields within the contract area, while SOCAR retains the remaining 20 percent. The duration of the agreement is 25 years, with a potential extension of five additional years.
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