Today.Az » Business » Azerbaijan to approve ESIA on exploratory drilling at Shafag-Asiman block
11 September 2019 [17:24] - Today.Az


By Trend


In October, the Azerbaijani government will approve the BP’s Environmental and Socio-Economic Impact Assessment (ESIA) of Shafag-Asiman Exploration Drilling Project, Tamam Bayatli, the head of Public Relations Department of the company, said Sept. 11 at the ESIA presentation on exploratory drilling, Trend reports.

She said that after the approval of the document by the end of 2019, drilling of the exploration well "SAX01" will begin. Its place has been determined following the seismic survey, she noted.

BP expects to start exploratory drilling at Azerbaijan’s Shafag-Asiman Contract Area in the fourth quarter of 2019.

The drilling will be held using the Heydar Aliyev Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit (MODU) operated by Caspian Drilling Company, a subsidiary of the Azerbaijani state oil company SOCAR.

The well will be drilled at the depths of 6,000-7,000 meters, in which gas and condensate reserves are expected to be discovered.

In case of reaching success during exploration work at Shafag-Asiman block, the second Shah Deniz field with big reserves may be discovered there, BP's Regional President for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey Gary Jones said earlier.

It is anticipated that the exploration drilling (including well testing) will take approximately 604 days.

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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