Production Platform in Caspian Sea to be Supplied with Power from Shore

For the first time in Azerbaijan, an offshore production platform will operate with electricity from onshore.

Speaking at the Caspian Technical Conference in Baku, the representative of Total SA, Edouard Thibaut said the Absheron gas field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea is conveniently located for transmission of electric energy from the shore.

“The system of automated platform management will allow reducing the operation costs in the sea. The fact that the field is located relatively close to the shore allows us supplying it with electric energy from the gas processing plant in Sangachal. Thus, it is an ideal option to supply the Absheron field with electricity from the shore,” Thibaut said.

Discovery of a big gas field Absheron was announced in September 2011 after results of the evaluation drilling have become available. The final investment decision is expected to be made in the last quarter of 2017. The first operation well drilling will start in quarter 3, 2019 and it is planned to extract the first gas from the field at the end of 2021 – early 2022. The potential gas resources of the field total 350 billion cubic meters of gas and 45 million tons of condensate.

The partners of Absheron project include SOCAR with 40%, French Total with 40% and Gaz De France Suez with 20%.