SOCAR continues gas development strategy

Azerbaijan state oil company Socar is planning to boost its offshore facilities at fields the company has been developing independently. "Socar plans to install an additional nine offshore platforms in the next two years in order to drill 81 wells,” head Rovnag Abdullaev said, adding that it was part of the company’s development strategy for 2015-2025.

Two platforms within this program – N7 in shallow water Gunashli and N6 in Bulla Deniz – were commissioned last year and are drilling wells. Another platform for Guneshli is planned to be built this year, he said. “The platform N7A will be built for gas and condensate production.”

Socar’s vice-president Khoshbakht Yusifzadeh said that five new platforms would be installed at the Bulla Deniz gas and condensate field within a decade. In all, they will drill 26 gas production wells.

Socar's oldest offshore field Oil Rocks (Neft Dashlary) (Credit: Socar)

The future growth of gas production is not based on old fields being developed by Socar but on new gas and condensate discoveries in cooperation with western energy companies.

Socar president said that Azerbaijan could increase gas production to 40bn m³/yr. Over the past 10 years, gas production in Azerbaijan has grown four times to reach 29bn m³, Abdullaev told an energy conference in Baku last week. 

 “We are working on a project for deep gas reserves beneath the Azeri Chirag Guneshli oil reservoir. The total gas reserves for ACG are estimated at 233bn m³ and 44mn metric tons of condensate,” Yusifzade told delegates. An agreement for producing deep gas is planned for September, he told Bloomberg.

Azerbaijan officials said the country could provide additional gas export volumes beyond Shah Deniz 1 and 2 from 2021-2022 onwards, when Total’s Absheron field will come on-stream. Shah Deniz has also potential for further development with stage 3, they said.

Kama Mustafayeva