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Absheron


The Absheron gas condensate field is located in the Absheron archipelago of the South Caspian oil and gas basin, 85-100 km east of Baku in the open sea, the depth of 350-550 m. According to the latest estimates, the hydrocarbon reserves of the Absheron field amount to 350 billion m3 of gas and 45 million tons of condensate. The field is being developed by JOCAP, a joint operator of SOCAR and TotalEnergies.

The structure was discovered in 1960 as a result of seismic surveys conducted by Azerbaijani geophysicists and was arranged for exploration drilling in 1993. Exploration drilling has not been carried out in the area for a long time due to the depth of the sea and the location of promising oil and gas fields at great depth (more than 6,000 m). There are two exploration, development, and production sharing agreements on Absheron’s perspective structure.

The first agreement was signed on the 1st of August 1997, during the official visit of National leader Heydar Aliyev to the United States. SOCAR had a 50%, Chevron (USA) - 30%, TotalEnergies (France) - 20% shares in this agreement, which covered an area of 400 km2. 3D seismic, engineering-geological works, and drilling 2 exploration wells were planned to be carried out in the area. Chevron Overseas Ltd was established to carry out this work. In 1998-1999, 634 km2 3D seismic and engineering-geological survey was carried out and the tectonic structure of the field was ascertained based on the obtained data. The place was chosen for the drilling of a well with a project depth of 6,700 m and project horizon of the Fasila formation near the southern wing.

On the 23rd of December 2000, using the Istiglal rig, SOCAR’s Caspian Drilling Company started the drilling of the first exploration well in the southern wing of the Absheron structure to a depth of 6,506 m at 520 m and completed it on the 23rd of June 2001 opening the Fasila formation.

Based on the geological and geophysical data obtained due to drilling, the Contractor did not consider the reserves for the Absheron structure to be economically viable and the agreement was terminated in December 2005. However, SOCAR always considered that the Contractor did not properly calculate and underestimated the structure’s reserves as the exploration well had not fully opened the Fasila formation. In 2009, SOCAR and TotalEnergies signed an Agreement on Exploration, Development and Production Sharing in the Absheron Offshore block in the Azerbaijan Sector of the Caspian Sea. According to this Agreement, SOCAR and TotalEnergies had an equal share of 50%. The second agreement covers 747 km2 area. The data of the 3D seismic survey previously carried out by the Contractor were reviewed and the location of the well to be drilled was selected in the area near the northern wing (sea depth 473.5 m). On the 14th of January 2011, the drilling process was started using the Heydar Aliyev semi-submersible drilling rig. On the 9th of September 2011, discovery of the Absheron field, the largest gas condensate field in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea was announced. Eventually, drilling of the well continued and the depth of the well was increased to 6,874 m by sidetracking. During the tests, 920,000 m3 of gas and 430 tons of condensate were extracted from the well per day. The Contractor decided to drill an appraisal well in the north-eastern part of the structure. On the 12th of May 2018, CDC started drilling well ABD-001 utilizing the Heydar Aliyev semi-submersible drilling rig and in order to remove uncertainty of the gas-water contact in the field, the appraisal well was drilled to a depth of 7,411 meters. The development well discovered the productive B and D horizons of the Fasila Formation. Successful outcomes were obtained during a post-drilling and completion test of the well. In September 2020, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev attended a groundbreaking ceremony of the offshore operations of the "Absheron" field at the Heydar Aliyev Baku Deepwater Jacket Plant. The 4 jackets and subsea facilities installed in the field were built by SOCAR’s BOS Shelf, which implemented the turn-key project method for the first time in Azerbaijan, carrying out all engineering, procurement, construction, installation (EPCI) works. The Pre-FEED studies of jackets and other steel constructions were prepared by SOCAR’s Oil and Gas Research Project Institute. The documents were delivered to Mariel and SOCAR KBR for the next phase of elaboration.

The receiving platform for gas production from the Absheron field is deemed to be unique. Within the framework of this project, all operations on the subsea system and platform are managed from outside, i.e. from the module located in the Oil Rocks. The location of this module, 34.3 km from the well and 3 km from the platform, will ensure safety and effectiveness of operations during gas production, processing, and transportation. For the first time in the Caspian Sea, the Absheron project will use pipe in pipe technology. Specially manufactured multi-layer insulated pipes will be used for the pipeline.

On the 4th of August 2023 one more shareholder - Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) joined the Absheron project, and subsequently, a new distribution of shares was formed, with SOCAR and TotalEnergies each holding 35%, and ADNOC 30%.

On the 3rd of July 2023 Absheron gas condensate field was put into operation with daily production of 4.2 million cubic meters of gas and 1200 tons of condensate. Work on the second phase of the field development is proceeding intensively.

The produced gas-condensate mixture is transmitted through a 34.3 km long 12-inch multiphase pipeline to the receiving platform built on the territory of the Oil Rocks OGPU with a water depth of 13 meters. Here, the pre-processed gas and condensate is sold in the domestic market using the infrastructure of Azneft PU, while condensate is sold in the foreign market via the BTC export pipeline.