Azernews.Az

By Trend

French company Total may start drilling the first well at the Azerbaijani gas field Absheron in mid-2017, Rovnag Abdullayev, head of the Azerbaijani state oil company SOCAR, told reporters in Baku September 16.

He added that the drilling operations will be carried out from a new generation platform, which is being built by SOCAR.

Abdullayev said the sides continue to actively work on the development project.

“Total will present the field development program in November,” he added. “The program will be approved by SOCAR, and as a result, the work will be continued in the future.”

“A new generation rig is being constructed in line with the most modern standards,” he said. “The rig may be used in drilling the first well at the field in the mid-2017."

Construction of the first new generation drilling rig for SOCAR started in 2013. It is expected that the construction will be completed by March 2017. The new rig is designed for drilling of wells with a depth of 8,000 meters at a sea depth of 1,000 meters. The maximum depth of the Caspian Sea is 1,025 meters.

First volumes of gas from Absheron gas and condensate field is expected to be received in late 2021 and early 2022, according to forecasts.

Discovery of Absheron field was announced in 2011. Its reserve is estimated at 350 billion cubic meters of gas and 45 million tons of condensate, according to SOCAR.

Shareholders of Absheron project are SOCAR (40 percent), Total (40 percent) and Engie (20 percent).

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