1st Shafag-Asiman exploration well spudded offshore Azerbaijan

Baku, January 15 - Neftegaz.RU. SOCAR and BP announced today that the 1st exploration well was spudded on the Shafag-Asiman offshore block in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea on 13 January.

SOCAR and BP each hold 50% equity interest. BP is operator during the exploration phase of the project. Drilling is conducted by SOCAR’s Caspian Drilling Company. The SAX01 well is the 1st to be drilled in the contract area and is in accordance with the PSA that was ratified by the Azerbaijani parliament in 2011.

The well is planned to reach total depth of up to 7000 m, which is expected to take around 9 months, and following this, well data will be analysed and, if successful, an evaluation programme may be conducted to confirm the results.

Rovnag Abdullayev, president of SOCAR, said: “A while back, we have successfully completed seismic study in the Shafag-Asiman block with our partner BP. Now we are embarking on the next step, and starting to drill an exploration well. The exploration drilling will allow to fully uncover the block’s potential. We are proud that today Azerbaijani companies-SOCAR’s business units provide all key services, including the construction of platforms and jackets as well as drilling, for such complex projects, as Shah Deniz, Azeri-Chirag- Gunashli and Shafag-Asiman. We consider this as one of the most important achievements of Azerbaijani oil workers during the era of national independence.”

Gary Jones, BP’s Regional President for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, said: “We are excited and proud to be embarking on this 1st exploration well on the Shafag-Asiman offshore block structure which has great potential and which, if successful, could be a gas discovery of significant scale. A great deal of preparation has been made to assure a safe and robust drilling programme, delivered by an expert and motivated team using a drilling rig with managed pressure drilling capability.”

The well is being drilled from the Heydar Aliyev semi-submersible rig operated by the SOCAR’s Caspian Drilling Company. The rig was contracted for the SAX01 well in November 2019 and then moved to the well location in preparation for the commencement of drilling operations.