14th Nov 2007 09:46
BP PLC14 November 2007 November 14, 2007 BP Makes Major Gas Discovery in Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz Field BP, on behalf of the Shah Deniz partnership, announced today a further major newgas-condensate discovery in the Shah Deniz field in the Caspian Sea. The SDX-04appraisal and exploration well, some 70 kilometres south east of Baku,discovered a new high pressure reservoir in a deeper structure below thecurrently producing reservoir. The well was drilled to a Caspian-record depth of more than 7,300 metres in thesouth western part of Shah Deniz. The exploration discovery represents a potentially significant find. There willbe appraisal to fully delineate the new structure in the next few years. In addition, during the appraisal phase, the well encountered gas condensate inthe currently producing horizons extending the field to the south. Test flowswere at the maximum capacity of the on-board equipment of 35 million standardcubic feet a day (1 million standard cubic meters a day). Results confirmsufficient gas at Shah Deniz for a second stage of development. Although furtherwork is required to define this second phase it will likely be similar or largerthan stage 1 -- 8.6 bcma (billion cubic metres a year). "The SDX-04 well is a major achievement and it justifies our plans for the nextstage of development of the field. I am proud to say that the results of thewell prove that it was worth making the effort to complete and test the deepestwell ever drilled in the Caspian as we met both the appraisal and explorationobjectives set for it," said Bill Schrader, President of BP Azerbaijan. "We believe the results have significantly added to our understanding of theentire field. Such a deep, high pressure reservoir will require new technologiesthat are presently under development in the industry. This is a tremendoussuccess for the Shah Deniz partnership and for Azerbaijan," Schrader added. The parties to the Shah Deniz production sharing agreement (PSA) are: BP(operator - 25,5%), StatoilHydro (25,5%), the State Oil Company of AzerbaijanRepublic (SOCAR - 10%), LUKOil (10%), NICO (10%), Total (10%), and TPAO (9%). Notes to editors The previous three exploration and appraisal wells, started in 1999, (SDX-01,SDX-02 and SDX-03) were designed to appraise and delineate the now producingstage 1 reserves in northern flank of the field. They focused on two structures- the Fasila Suite and the Balakhany VIII interval. The Shah Deniz field lies in water depths between 50 metres and 600 metres, some70 kilometres south east of Baku. The Shah Deniz PSA was ratified on October 17,1996. Further enquiries:Tamam Bayatly, BP Azerbaijan, Baku: +994 12 4970 000fax: +994 12 4979 736 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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