Caspian Karabakh discovery confirmed

SOCAR and Norway’s Equinor have confirmed today a discovery of Karabagh field located 120 kilometers offshore, east of Baku, in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea.

According to SOCAR website, drilling of the first appraisal well at Karabagh oil field was started on December 23, 2019. The well was drilled in water depth of 180 meters by the Dada Gorgud semi-submersible drilling rig.

The reservoir is at a depth of approximately 3.4 kilometers. Estimated size of the discovered volumes of oil and gas are satisfactory for pursuing commercial development of the Karabagh field, SOCAR stressed.

Head of the 'Caspian Barrel' Center for Oil Research Ilham Shaban told Vestnik Kavkaza earlier that natural gas extraction in Karabakh will allow stabilizing the gas market of Azerbaijan. "If enough gas for commercial production is discovered there, it will go to the domestic market to make it more stable. If they find condensate, light oil, it will be exported. If there are additional volumes of oil in Karabakh, it will increase oil production and oil refining in Azerbaijan, which are currently declining," Ilham Shaban said.

Economic expert Rovshan Ibrahimov recalled that preliminary reserves of the Karabakh field are estimated at 100 billion cubic meters of gas and condensate. "The positive aspect of the new project is that when gas fields are developed, there is also the possibility of producing gas condensate - oil, that is, it will also increase the total oil production. And since oil production is much more profitable, it will also increase incomes from exploitation of Azerbaijani  oil and gas fields," the expert stressed.