Oil & gas news

SECOND KURDASHI WELL COMES OUT DRY

Drilling of the second appraisal well on Kurdashi prospect has completed with no hydrocarbon reserves discovered. So, the well was sealed off, SOCAR said Tuesday.

The first appraisal well drilled in April did not discover the presence of hydrocarbons either. It remains to be seen whether a third well will be dug.

The Agip-operated Kurdashi project is owned by the Italian company proper with a 25% interest stake, SOCAR with 50%, TPAO with 5%, Mitsui with 15%, and Repsol with 5%.

EXXONMOBIL FULFILS OBLIGATIONS

Another ExxonMobil subsidiary, Oguz Operating Company, acting as operator on behalf of Mobil Exploration and Producing Azerbaijan Inc., an ExxonMobil subsidiary, has completed the drilling of the NDEX-1 well in the Azerbaijan sector of the central Caspian Sea. The company has plugged and abandoned the well, as no commercial accumulations of hydrocarbons were encountered.

There are no current plans for additional drilling on the Oguz contract area. In drilling the NDEX-1 exploration well, Mobil Exploration and Producing Azerbaijan Inc., fulfilled its obligations under the Oguz Production Sharing Agreement (PSA), and there are no requirements to drill additional wells.

This is the third prospect in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian to have come out dry, following Garabagh and Ashrafi-Dan Ulduzu. A similar situation is observed in Lankaran-Daniz/Talysh-Daniz and Kurdashi, with two wells already proved fruitless.

DRILLING OF FIRST APPRAISAL WELL ON NAKHCHIVAN BEING PREPARED

"ExxonMobil Azerbaijan" operating company is involved in preparations for the drilling of the first appraisal well on Nakhchivan prospect. According to a source from the company, after completing operations on Absheron and Inam prospects, the "Istiglal" drilling rig will embark on drilling on Nakhchivan. The drilling will start in the 3rd or 4th quarter of this year, which largely depends on the rig's capabilities.

To date, considerable investment has been made on Nakhchivan in 3D seismic survey, geological engineering, environmental analysis, assessment of the collector, well design, and bonus and acreage payments. A document has been sent to the Ministry for Natural Resources and Ecology for an approval of the Environmental Impact Assessment.

The designed depth of the first well, to be drilled in 142 meters of water, is 6,444 meters, as two wells are to be drilled.

ExxonMobil (operator) holds a 50% stake in the contract, while the other 50% is SOCAR's.

"ABSHERON" FALLS SHORT OF EXPECTATIONS?

No reports have yet leaked to press as to the first exploratory well on "Absheron" prospect. According to a SOCAR source, the drilling was to complete in June, but then the project operator Chevron announced that it would end in mid-July. SOCAR suspects that the anticipated reserves were not discovered in the reservoirs and withholding of the information is a part of the company's economic policy.

A short while earlier western experts were maintaining that the figure of 1 trillion cubic meters of gas that the prospect allegedly contains is seriously exaggerated.

The Absheron contract is owned by SOCAR (50%), Chevron (30%) and TotalFinaElf (20%). Drilling of two exploratory wells is expected.

JOINT VENTURES HIKE OIL PRODUCTION

Onshore oil and gas producing joint ventures hiked oil production in January-July 2001 16% to the same period of 2000, as Salyan Oil Ltd. (154.6%), Anshad Petrol (102.8%) and Shirvan Oil (102.9%) over-fulfilled the plan, a source from SOCAR told Azernews Monday. Two joint ventures, the "Karasu" operating company (98.6%), and the "AzGerNeft" JV (95%) proved short of plan.

A total of 352,091 tons of oil were produced by joint ventures in this period, including 63,251 tons in June, when the plan was fulfilled by all the JVs, but "AzGerNeft".

Oil and gas producing units decreased overall onshore oil production volume 0.5% to 2000, as behind the plan were "BalakhaniNeft" (97%), "SurakhaniNeft" (97.8%) and "BibiheibatNeft" (99.2%). Three other units, Amirov (105%), Taghiyev (100%) and SiyazanNeft (108.2%), surged production.

Oil and gas producing units extracted a total of 429,773 tons of oil in the first half year, including 71,181 tons in June, with all the units fulfilling the projection.

AZPETROL OPENS 32nd SERVICE STATION

AzPetrol has opened its 32nd service station in the vicinity of the Russian-Azeri border in Gusar province. The company owns 11 stations in Baku alone, well ahead of other companies.

In 4 years of operation, AzPetrol has given jobs to over 3,000 people, including 40 hired for the newly-opened station in Gusar.

Azernews

AssA-Irada