First Shafag-Asiman exploration well spudded offshore Azerbaijan

The first exploration well was spudded on the Shafag-Asiman offshore block in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea on the 13th January, BP said.

 

BP is operator with 50% interest. SOCAR holds the other 50%.

 

SAX01 is the first well to be drilled in the contract area and is in accordance with BP’s obligations under the PSA that was ratified by the Azerbaijani parliament in 2011.

 

Drilled from Caspian Drilling Company’s Heydar Aliyev semi-submersible drilling, the well is expected to reach total depth of up to 7,000 metres.

 

Drilling is expected to take nine months. Well data will be analysed and, if successful, an evaluation programme may be conducted to confirm the results.

 

The structure has significant potential for a large-scale gas discovery, said Gary Jones, BP’s regional president for Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey.

 

The Shafag-Asiman offshore block lies some 125 km to the south-east of Baku in water depths of 650-800 metres. It covers an area of some 1,100 square km.  The block is 60 km from Shah Deniz and 145 km from the Sangachal terminal.

 

A 3D seismic acquisition programme was conducted on the contract area in 2012.

 

Interpretation of the seismic dataset was completed in 2015 followed by the selection of the first well location and planning for drilling activities.

 

Source: Oil & Gas Journal