BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 22. bp started the High Density Ocean Bottom Node (HDOBN) 3D seismic survey on Azerbaijan’s Karabagh field this week, bp Azerbaijan told Trend.
“This is the first step towards the development of the field -
we plan to conduct two seismic survey programs - Ocean Bottom Node
(OBN) seismic survey, and High-Resolution (HR) / Ultra-High
Resolution (UHR) seismic survey. The OBN survey has already begun
and will last up to 3.5 months. The HR/UHR survey is planned for
March-April 2026, with a duration of up to 45 days,” said the
company.
bp Azerbaijan noted that the OBN seismic survey is expected to
enhance the reservoir understanding, support well planning, and
optimize field development strategies. The HR / UHR seismic survey
aims to assist with the identification of geological hazards that
could affect well integrity, and subsurface hazards that could
impact safe installation of a platform and other
infrastructure.
“In October, the draft Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
document for the seismic survey program was disclosed for public
consultation and submitted to the Ministry of Ecology and Natural
Resources of Azerbaijan for review and approval. The Ministry has
already approved the EIA and given the permission we needed to
start the survey program,” the company said.
The Karabagh Contract Area is located 120 km east of Baku, in water depths of 150 – 200 m, close to the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) and the Ashrafi-Dan Ulduzu-Aypara (ADUA) Contract Areas.
There was an existing Risk Service Agreement (RSA) for the development of the Karabagh field signed in 2018. In May 2025 bp acquired a 35% participating interest in the RSA and became the operator. SOCAR affiliate retains a 65% participating interest in the RSA.
The data from Azerbaijan’s energy ministry reveals that the fields initially estimated geological reserves exceed 60 million tons of oil.