BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 30
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
The drilling of the first exploration well by bp for the Shallow Water Absheron Peninsula (SWAP) project in Azerbaijan is scheduled to start in August 2021, Trend reports with reference to bp’s data.
The SWAP Contract Area comprises three Prospective Areas. It is planned to drill three SWAP exploration wells in total; one in each Prospective Area namely: North Khali (NKX01) exploration well in North East Prospective Area; Qarabatdag (QBDX01) exploration well in South East Prospective Area; and • Bibiheybat (BHEX01) exploration well in West Prospective Area.
The planned BHEX01 exploration well is located approximately 1.5km from the Azerbaijani coastline near Baku Bay in water approximately 7m deep. The well will be drilled using the same jack up-rig that will be used for the NKX01 well. Drilling is planned to commence in November 2021, however the timing will depend on the completion of NKX01 well drilling programme, which is planned to commence in August 2021. Drilling of the third well (QBDX01) is planned to commence once BHEX01 drilling programme is completed.
The BHEX01 exploration well is planned to target hydrocarbons approximately 4,000m below the seabed surface and drilling activities are expected to take up to 90 days to complete. The key objective of drilling the exploration well is to confirm the presence of hydrocarbons prior to the potential future development of the Contract Area.
bp signed a new production sharing agreement (PSA) with SOCAR in December 2014 to jointly explore for and develop potential prospects in the shallow water area around the Absheron peninsula in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian sea. This PSA was ratified by the Milli Majlis (Parliament of Azerbaijan) on 14 April 2015. This enables bp to move forward with its commitments under this PSA using its experience and advanced technology solutions from other shallow water areas around the world.
Under the PSA bp is the operator with 50 percent interest while SOCAR holds the remaining 50 percent equity.
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