The Khylly field is located 160 km from Baku, in the south-eastern part of the Kura Plain, 70 km south-east of Shirvan and 15 km north-west of Neftchala. The relief of the field, which is part of the Lower Kura oil and gas region, consists mainly of plains and is located on the Neftchala-Duzdagh-Durovdagh-Babazanan anticline. The 18 m high Duzdag mud volcano is located in the arched part of the field. Numerous griffons and mud puddles are widespread on the surface; gas, oil and water flows are observed.
The first exploration work in the brachyanticline structured Khylly area was conducted in 1928 and several structural-cartographic wells were drilled in 1937-1940. But the deep exploration drilling was conducted in 1941-1954. The field was opened for the extraction of industrial oil from well No. 48 in 1954. The well was involved in the development operations with an output of 60 tons per day from a depth of 1577-1578 m.
There were frequent complications during the drilling process. During the first 15 years of exploration, 34% of the wells did not reach the project depth, and various accidents occurred. The field was in experimental operation for a short time, and the wells were conserved in the late 1950s. Later, in 1963, the wells were removed from conservation and re-tested. As of January 1, 2024, a total of 100 wells have been drilled in the Khylly field, 60 of them were exploration and 40 production wells. 756,300 tons of oil and 76.1 million m3 of associated gas were extracted from these wells. At present, there are 34 wells in the exploitation stock of the field, 7 of them operating wells.
The field is being developed by the Neftechala Operating Company, acting as an operator in accordance with the Agreement on the Rehabilitation, Development and Production Sharing for the Block, including the Neftchala, Hilli, Durovdag-Babazanan Oil Fields and South-west Flange of Mughan Monocline in the Republic of Azerbaijan, signed on October 5, 2009 between the Neftchala Operating Company Ltd, SOCAR, Neftchala Investments Limited and SOCAR Oil Affiliate. The agreement became effective on October 5, 2009. The Contract area is 2,707.7 km² and located in the territory of Neftchala and Salyan regions. At present, oil and gas operations are carried out in the Neftchala and Khylly fields.