Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 12
By Sara Israfilbayova – Trend:
It will take 12 months to drill the first exploratory well at Azerbaijan’s prospective offshore Shafag-Asiman block operated by BP, Wells Operations Specialist at BP Hendrik Jan de Jong told Trend.
According to him, work is scheduled to begin in the 4th quarter of the current year. "If we find hydrocarbons, we will conduct tests which will last about 60 days," he said.
BP believes that Shafag-Asiman is a very promising block and may essentially become the second “Shah Deniz” in case commercial reserves are discovered.
However, testing the SAX01 exploration well (if necessary) may be delayed from one to three years if BP does not have access to the rig. It is absolutely safe – what is important is to make sure that the well is properly and reliably cemented, he noted.
According to De Jong, drilling is to be carried out at depths of 6,000-7,000 meters, and the water depth at the drilling point comprises 624 meters.
SOCAR and BP signed a contract on the Shafag-Asiman block for a period of 30 years in October 2010. The exploration period is four years with the possibility of extension for three more years. At the first stage, two wells are planned to be drilled. If necessary, two more wells will be drilled at the second stage.
In the operational period, the sides will implement joint operatorship within the project. Shared participation in the contract between BP and SOCAR is 50 to 50 percent.
The forecast reserves of the Shafag-Asiman block stand at 500 billion cubic meters of gas and 65 million tons of condensate.
The block is located 125 kilometers to the south-east of Baku. Exploration work has not been conducted on the block yet. It is located at a depth of 650-800 meters with the depth of the reservoir at 7,000 meters.
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