FSU OGM: Fresh gas find in Caspian

BP and Azerbaijan’s state-owned SOCAR have made an ultra-deep gas and condensate discovery in the Caspian Sea after 14 months of drilling.

The well at the Shafag-Asiman block was sunk to a depth of almost 7,200 metres. It is the first borehole to be completed in years in the Azeri Caspian Sea, where exploration activity has been muted because of low oil prices and rig scarcity.

SOCAR revealed the discovery in a statement on March 25, without providing figures for its size. However, Azeri President Ilham Aliyev hailed the find as a potential boost for Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) supplies to Europe.

The discovery comes at an opportune moment for Azerbaijan. BP, SOCAR and other TAP shareholders will invite gas customers this July to submit binding bids for the pipeline’s expansion. TAP can currently transport up to 10bn cubic metres per year of gas, but its developers want to double its capacity to 20 bcm.

In other news, Russian gas independent Novatek has secured rights to another gas block in the Arctic, as it continues gathering resources to underpin its planned series of liquefaction projects.

The operator of the 17mn tonne per year (tpy) Yamal LNG plant said it had paid RUB775mn ($10.2mn) for a 30-year licence for the Severo-Gydansky (North-Gydansky) block. The block is situated partly on the shore of the Gydan Peninsula and partly in the shallow waters of Gydan Bay. Russian authorities place its resources at 9.8bn barrels of oil equivalent (boe), including some 270bn cubic metres of gas.