Oil & gas news

DRILLING ON NAKHCHIVAN COMPLETING

The first exploratory well on the Nakhchivan prospect has surpassed a 4,600 meter mark. The drilling and well tests are planned to complete till the end of the year, a SOCAR source told AssA-Irada Saturday. The estimated depth of the well is 6,444 meters, with the drilling being conducted from the Istiglal semi submersible drilling rig in 142 meters of water.

SOCAR and ExxonMobil (operator) has an equal 50% stake in the PSA of the Nakhchivan prospect.

The drilling comes after preliminary geological prospecting, which traced accumulations of gas and ground residues on the prospect.

FIRST EXPLORATORY WELL ON YANAN-TAVA REACHES 1,000M MARK

The depth of first exploration well on Yanan-Tava, the drilling of which started commenced on October 6, has reached a 1,000 meter mark, with work progressing on schedule. According to a SOCAR source, the drilling will complete in mid-January 202.

The designed depth of the first exploration well on the prospect is 4,875 meters. The well is positioned in 14 meters of water, while drilling is being carried out off "Gurtulush" rig. The second exploration well will be drilled on Atashgah prospect.

The Atashgah, Yanan-Tava and Mugan-Daniz PSA is operated by the Japan Azerbaijan Operating Company (JAOC), which is owned by SOCAR 50%, Japex 22.5%, Inpex 12.5%, Itochu 7.5%, Teikoku 7.5%.

RUSSIA RESUMES GAS SUPPLIES

Russia resumed gas transportation to Azerbaijan at 7 a.m. Thursday after the maintenance work was over in the Mozdok-Gazimammad pipeline.

A source from the "Azerinagl" production unit told AssA-Irada Thursday that the gas supplies were likely to reach its full capacity by the end of the day to deliver gas to the northern parts of the country. Natural gas is being distributed to 17 provinces, including Sumgayit and Absheron Peninsula.

Russia imports 14 million cubic meters of gas a day with its possible expansion to 15-16 million cubic meters in winter.

OCTOBER OIL PRODUCTION PLAN FULFILLED, UNLIKE GAS

In October 2001, 768,200 tons of oil were produced with the plan of 756,200. The plan has been fulfilled both off- and onshore, with 629,800 tons (100.1%) extracted offshore and 138,400 (109.1%) onshore, according to SOCAR.

The October gas production plan was not fulfilled, with 474,200,000 cubic meters (95.5%) produced instead of the planned 496,800,000. Offshore, 373,400,000 cubic meters were produced despite the plan of 391,500,000 (95.4%), while onshore 21,400,000 cubic meters were produced with the plan of 21,500,000 (110.5%). A total of 394,800,000 cubic meters (95.6%) were produced by SOCAR enterprises.

The AIOC produced 79,400,000 cubic meters of gas in October (94.7%).

SOCAR OIL STOCK DOWN

The SOCAR stock entailed 6959 wells, including 1345 offshore and 5614 onshore, as of November 1. This is 63 wells over January 1 and 12 below October 1 of the same year.

In January-October, 2001, offshore wells decreased by 26, while onshore ones surged by 89. In all, 449 new wells (100 offshore and 349 onshore) have been included into and 386 wells (126 offshore and 260 onshore) taken out of the stock this year.