Total to complete exploration drilling on Azeri gas field in 2011
French giant Total plans to complete the drilling of an exploration
well on the Absheron prospective gas condensate structure in the
Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea in April-May 2011, its
executive has said.
Jean Carriay, Project Manager for Absheron at Total E&P Absheron BV, made the announcement at the presentation of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report on Thursday.
The company is expected to launch drilling in September 2010. Drilling will be carried out with the Heydar Aliyev Rig, and Maersk Drilling will be the operator of the project, Carriay said.
According to projections, the company plans to drill 5,000 meters by late 2010 and reach the reservoir by January-February 2011. Drilling will be carried out at water depths of 470-480 meters. The depth of wells will be 7,100-7,200 meters.
Carriay said the company signed service contracts with companies such as AA services - EKO LLL, Fugro, Blue, Murphy, Schlumberger, etc.
Carriay said the company is also concerned over problems that BP has faced in the Gulf of Mexico. "Therefore, we must proceed very cautiously," he added.
The Absheron bloc is located about 100 km from Baku at a depth of 500 meters. The reserves of the Absheron structure are estimated at 300 billion cubic meters of gas and 45 million tons of condensate, according to forecasts of Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR.
Absheron participating interests are: SOCAR - 40 percent, Total - 40 percent and Gaz De France Suez - 20 percent. The contract on the Absheron field was signed Feb. 27, 2009 between SOCAR and Total. Later Total sold 20 percent of its equity share in the contract to Gaz De France Suez.
This is the second attempt by foreign energy companies to start production of the commercially viable Absheron field. In 1997, the first production sharing agreement was signed for exploration and development of the contract area. The contract was signed between SOCAR and US ChevronTexaco. SOCAR had 50 percent of equity participation, while ChevronTexaco held 30 percent and was the operator of the project, and Total had 20 percent. However, after drilling, reserves were considered commercially unattractive, and the contract was invalidated.*
Jean Carriay, Project Manager for Absheron at Total E&P Absheron BV, made the announcement at the presentation of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report on Thursday.
The company is expected to launch drilling in September 2010. Drilling will be carried out with the Heydar Aliyev Rig, and Maersk Drilling will be the operator of the project, Carriay said.
According to projections, the company plans to drill 5,000 meters by late 2010 and reach the reservoir by January-February 2011. Drilling will be carried out at water depths of 470-480 meters. The depth of wells will be 7,100-7,200 meters.
Carriay said the company signed service contracts with companies such as AA services - EKO LLL, Fugro, Blue, Murphy, Schlumberger, etc.
Carriay said the company is also concerned over problems that BP has faced in the Gulf of Mexico. "Therefore, we must proceed very cautiously," he added.
The Absheron bloc is located about 100 km from Baku at a depth of 500 meters. The reserves of the Absheron structure are estimated at 300 billion cubic meters of gas and 45 million tons of condensate, according to forecasts of Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR.
Absheron participating interests are: SOCAR - 40 percent, Total - 40 percent and Gaz De France Suez - 20 percent. The contract on the Absheron field was signed Feb. 27, 2009 between SOCAR and Total. Later Total sold 20 percent of its equity share in the contract to Gaz De France Suez.
This is the second attempt by foreign energy companies to start production of the commercially viable Absheron field. In 1997, the first production sharing agreement was signed for exploration and development of the contract area. The contract was signed between SOCAR and US ChevronTexaco. SOCAR had 50 percent of equity participation, while ChevronTexaco held 30 percent and was the operator of the project, and Total had 20 percent. However, after drilling, reserves were considered commercially unattractive, and the contract was invalidated.*
Here we are to serve you with news right now. It does not cost much, but worth your attention.
Choose to support open, independent, quality journalism and subscribe on a monthly basis.
By subscribing to our online newspaper, you can have full digital access to all news, analysis, and much more.
Subscribe
You can also follow AzerNEWS on Twitter @AzerNewsAz or Facebook @AzerNewsNewspaper
Thank you!