TPAO acquires 30% stake in Shafag-Asiman gas project in Caspian Sea - BP-Azerbaijan
BAKU. June 3 (Interfax) - Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) signed several agreements on Tuesday with the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijani Republic (SOCAR) and British Petroleum to join the PSA-type contract for developing the Shafag-Asiman block in Azerbaijan's sector of the Caspian Sea, BP-Azerbaijan's press service said.
"BP, SOCAR and TPAO today signed several agreements that will enable TPAO to join the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) for the offshore Shafag-Asiman block. The agreement will help accelerate further evaluation of the block to determine the most suitable way forward for this project," the company said.
The transaction will be completed in Q3 2025. Upon completion, TPAO will hold a total 30% stake in the PSA by acquiring 15% from BP and 15% from SOCAR.
Currently, BP and SOCAR each hold 50% stakes in the PSA. BP will remain the PSA operator during the exploration period.
The 1100 square kilometer Shafag-Asiman block is located 125 km southeast of Baku at water depths of 650-800 meters. The structure was discovered in 1961.
A development contract for the block was signed between the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijani Republic (SOCAR) and BP Exploration in July 2010 and became effective in June 2011, with equal 50-50 participation. The contract spans 30 years with a potential 5-year extension.
3D seismic surveys have been conducted at the structure, with estimated reserves of 500 billion cubic meters of gas and 65 million tonnes of condensate.
Since January 11, 2020, the SAX01 exploratory well has been drilled at a water depth of 623 meters.
In March 2021, BP and SOCAR announced that comprehensive studies at SAX01 (depth: 7189 meters) revealed initial gas-condensate deposits, completing exploratory drilling down to the productive Fasila horizon (break formation).
The companies didn't rule out drilling an additional appraisal well through a sidetrack from SAX01 to further evaluate the field's reserves.
