Total Tries to Agree with SOCAR on Absheron Project

Gas production from the Absheron field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea at the first stage will amount to 1.3 bcm, and at the second stage it will increase to 4 bcm. This follows from the report of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), circulated today.

According to the press service, the President of SOCAR Rovnag Abdullayev and the Vice-President of Total for Southern Europe and the Caspian region Bernard Clement discussed the development of the field today.

SOCAR specified that 'in 2011 when drilling the first exploratory well, Total revealed gas reserves of 326 bcm and 108 million tons of condensate at Absheron.'

It was previously believed that the deposit's reserves are 350 bcm of gas and 45 million tons of condensate.

SOCAR also reported that at present Total is preparing for the first stage of development of the field.

Turan recalls that earlier SOCAR and Total signed a framework agreement on the main contractual and commercial principles that govern the program for the first phase of development of the Absheron field. The operator of the Absheron project will be the joint company JOCAP (Joint Operating Company Apsheron Production), in which 50% will belong to SOCAR, and the remaining 50% - to Total. The parties have not yet announced the creation of JOCAP.

At the beginning of November this year, Managing Director of Total E & P Azerbaijan, Denis Lemarchal, said the company had postponed the deadlines for the adoption of the final investment decision (FID) for the development of the Absheron field. According to him, FID adoption is expected in the first quarter of 2018.

"We have already decided to start drilling the first well in January of the next year and the corresponding investments. At the same time, we are still at the design stage (FEED), after which we will award a contract. The adoption of the FID will not happen before the award of the contract. It is expected that this will be approximately in March next year," Lemarchal said.

Earlier, Total planned to take an investment decision on Absheron until the end of 2017. -12D--