Gas discovery assessed offshore Azerbaijan
The state energy company in Azerbaijan said March 24 it was developing a plan to assess the reserve potential of a gas-condensate discovery in the deep waters of the Caspian Sea.
Working alongside BP, the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) said it made a gas-condensate discovery in the Shafaq-Asiman block after drilling an exploration well in Azeri waters.
SOCAR said it would work alongside its project partners to drill another lateral well in the prospect to assess the exact volume of reserves.
The block is located about 128 km from the Azeri capital, Baku, and covers about 1,100 km2. Little to no exploration work has been conducted to date.
The Shafag-Asiman block is situated southwest from the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli complex of oil fields and the Shah Deniz natural gas field in the Azeri waters of the Caspian Sea.
Azeri reserves are seen as a boon to a European economy looking to break its reliance on Russian natural gas.
In December, BP’s subsidiary in Azerbaijan announced the first deliveries of Shah Deniz natural gas were sent to Europe through the network of pipelines in the so-called Southern Gas Corridor.
Shah Deniz has an estimated 1 trillion m3 of natural gas and 2bn barrels of condensate in place.