Shah Deniz gas condensate field produced 2.4 bln cum gas in Q 1

Baku. 10 May. REPORT.AZ/ During the I quarter 2017, Shah Deniz gas condensate field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea has produced about 2.4 billion standard cubic metres (bcm) of gas and 0.6 million tons (about 4.6 mln barrels) of condensate.

Report informs, operator of the field "BP-Azerbaijan" informed.

Gas production in the reporting period decreased by 11% compared to the same period in 2016.

Notably, the existing Shah Deniz facilities’ production capacity is currently 30.0 mln standard cubic metres of gas per day or around 10.9 bcm annually.

In the I quarter of 2017, Shah Deniz existing (Alpha) platform completed drilling operations of the SDA10 well deep hole and commenced completion operations, which are currently ongoing.

The Istiglal drilling rig completed SDC03 and SDC02 wells in the first quarter, the rig has then moved to the SDC01 well location to perform completion operations. The Heydar Aliyev (Maersk Explorer) rig drilled the top-hole sections of the SDF01 and SDF02 wells and is currently drilling the SDF01 well lower section.

"The above two rigs have already drilled 12 wells and completed three wells in preparation for the commencement of Shah Deniz Stage 2 and subsequent production ramp up. Drilling operations will continue to deliver all wells required to reach the planned plateau level", "BP-Azerrbaijan" reports.

Notably, Shah Deniz field is located on Caspian Sea shelf, 70 km south-east from Baku coast with depth of water changing between 50-500 meters. The field’s estimated natural gas deposits are about 1.2 trillion cubic meters. It is one of largest gas-condensate deposits in the world. 

The agreement on 'Shah Deniz' perspective area exploration, development and production sharing was signed June 4, 1996. 'Shah Deniz' production sharing agreement was ratified on October 17, 1996. 

Participants to the agreement are: BP (operator - 28.8%), AzSD (10%), SGC Upstream (6.7%), Petronas (15,5%), LUKoil (10%), NICO (10%) and TPAO (19%).