Total reveals plans for Absheron gas field in Azerbaijan

The French Total company has completed the preliminary Front End Engineering Design (FEED) of Absheron gas condensate field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea, Eric Meyer, planning development manager at Total Exploration & Production Azerbaijan B.V. said.

He made the remarks Sept.28 at the 3rd Azerbaijan and Caspian Sea Oil & Gas Week 2015 conference in Baku.

The FEED process started in the summer of 2014 and was completed in July 2015, he said.

Before that, Total held a conceptual study and evaluation of the project, which allowed the company to move to the FEED stage, Meyer said, adding that geophysical, bathymetric and geotechnical data was collected.

Also, Total received permission from the Azerbaijani government regarding the placement of the platform in the shallow waters of the Caspian Sea, outside the PSA area, according to Meyer.

He went on to add that it is expected to receive permission to work onshore of Azerbaijan. A permit is required for the construction of Total’s own terminal in Sangachal settlement of Baku seven kilometers away from the shore.

Meyer said the gas will be collected and processed in the terminal, and from the terminal, it will flow into the local area network for the domestic consumption and in the South Caucasus Pipeline for export.

Also it is planned to build a pipeline from the terminal, which will connect the terminal to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, via which the condensate will be exported, he said.

There is also preparation work for forming JOCAP (joint operating company Absheron petroleum), where 50 percent will be SOCAR's (State Oil Company of Azerbaijan) and 50 percent - Total's, Meyer said.

Accordingly, the operatorship of the project will be carried out by Total and SOCAR, Meyer said.

Next milestone for the development of Absheron gas field in Azerbaijan will be the submission and approval of the development program first by the joint venture partners and finally by Azerbaijani authorities, Meyer said.

He went on to add that in order to be in position to submit the program by 4Q of 2015, the operator is forming up the selected development scheme.

Operators are also currently carrying out the task to provide security during the drilling of wells at the Absheron field, Meyer said. The negotiations on this issue are ongoing, he said.

He also said that spud of the first well is expected in 2017, the final investment decision - by fourth quarter of 2017.

Spud of development on the well is expected by the third quarter of 2019, while the first gas is expected there by late 2021-early 2022, he said.

The discovery of Absheron field was announced in September 2011. A decision was made to drill an offshoot of the first exploration well to specify the data.

According to SOCAR geologists, the reserves of Absheron could amount to 350 billion cubic meters of gas and 45 million metric tons of condensate.

Absheron project participants include SOCAR (State Oil Company of Azerbaijan) - 40 percent, the French companies Total – 40 percent and Gaz De France Suez - 20 percent. --12D--