OREANDA-NEWS. September 12, 2011. Discovery of gas field Absheron in September by France’s Total in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea will not have medium-term impact on gas production in the country.

Today in Baku first vice-president of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) Khoshbakht Yusifzadeh has stated that gas extraction from field Absheron can begin in 2021 or 2022.

"Now we have a shortage of drilling rigs. If the first well on the field confirms our expectations, we can install a production platform at this point, and thus we will win 5-6 years," Yusifzadeh said.

He adds that field’s reserves are estimated in 350 bn cu m of gas and 45 million tons of condensate.

"Now Azerbaijan’s overall reserves reach 2.2 trillion cu m of gas, and with this field our reserves are going to grow up to 2.55 trillion cu m. We expect prospects on Babak structure. I’ve already said that at field Umid we have 200 bn cu m and Babak is expected to be 2 fold larger. Still, we expect results from structures Asiman-Shafag, Nakhichevan and others," Yusifzadeh said.

The design depth of exploration well on Absheron is 7,200 m. The field was discovered at a depth of 6,568 m, where three productive strata with a total thickness of 150 m were revealed.

"Drilling of the well will continue until the design depth, if we do not encounter high pressure. In addition, we intend to drill an inclined shaft to 1,500 m and know reserves at larger area," Yusifzadeh stressed.