BP on timeframe for evaluating Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz-3 project reserves

Vice President for the Caspian Region, Communications and Advocacy at BP, the operator of the Shah Deniz project, Bakhtiyar Aslanbayli has said that exploration work on revealing and assessing the reserves of deep-seated gas reserves at Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz field may be launched till late 2022.

These gas deposits were discovered several years ago during appraisal drilling at the field, however, the company did not open fully productive horizons due to the big water and layer depths and the difficult geological conditions for drilling operations, according to Report.

The development of these resources could be the third phase of the project development.

“There is a high probability that BP will start drilling an appraisal well as part of the third phase of the development of the Shah Deniz field till late 2022. For this purpose, a drilling point should be determined, a well project should be made, and its technical parameters should be determined, as well as a drilling rig should be selected,” Aslanbayli said.

The giant Shah Deniz field is one of the biggest gas condensate fields in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea. The total reserves of the field are estimated at 1.2 trillion cubic meters of natural gas and 240 million tons of gas condensate.

The field is developed by a consortium of foreign companies in two phases, the first from the Alpha platform and the second – from the Bravo platform. Two platforms are connected by a bridge.

Earlier, the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan SOCAR said that up to 15 billion cubic meters of gas per year could be produced from the field within the third phase. Two appraisal wells are planned to be drilled to evaluate these reserves.