Socar Launches Caspian Platform for Gas, Oil (update)
(Updates, with new production data)
Azerbaijan's state energy company Socar launched a production rig in its section of the offshore Guneshli field, platform number 7, on March 14, in order to boost both oil and natural gas production.
Socar's vice-president for oil and gas production and transportation Rahman Gurbanov told NGE that the rig would drill 6 wells in 2016, of which two would be at a depth of 2,800 m and produce dry gas and the other four would produce oil with associated gas. The total from all six would be 150mn m³/yr.
He added that the number of new wells in Guneshli field would reach 20 in the coming years and most would be oil. Then another 12, mostly gas, wells would be drilled.
At the moment, Socar's section of Guneshli produces 13mn m³/d of gas, of which 80% is natural gas and 20% is associated gas.
Socar's gas production decreased from 7.223 bn m3 in 2014 to 6.871bn m3 in 2015, mostly owing to a cut in associated gas intake from the BP-led consortium working on the Azer-Chirag-Guneshli block (ACG). Last December, the Socar-operated platform 10, with 1mn m3/d of gas production capacity, caught fire and took some months to extinguish.
Socar’s gas production fell by almost 5% to 543mn m³ in January 2016 compared with January 2015.
BP is planning to cut associated gas deliveries to Socar during 2016 in order to re-inject more into ACG.
In 2015, ACG delivered around 3.2bn m3 to Socar but the volume is expected to decrease to a little more than 1bn m3 this year.
Ilham Shaban