Located in the Azeri section of the Caspian Sea, the Absheron offshore block is situated in 1,640 feet (500 meters) of water about 62 miles (100 kilometers) from the coast of Baku. With drilling depths estimated between 13,123 and 23,194 feet (4,000 and 7,100 meters), the block spans 98,842 acres (400 square kilometers). Jointly held by SOCAR, the national oil company of Azerbaijan, French major Total, and GDF Suez, the field is currently in the exploration phase.

Believed to hold a record number of recoverable reserves, the Absheron field has a storied past and a bright future. While SOCAR geologists expect the offshore field to hold up to 4.4 trillion barrels (700 billion cubic meters) of recoverable reserves, exploration efforts thus far on the field have proven unsuccessful.

Bleak History

On Aug. 1, 1997, Chevron signed an Exploration, Development, Production Sharing Agreement with SOCAR for the exploration rights to the Absheron Block. The original agreement included Chevron as the operator with 30%, Total with 20% and SOCAR with 50%.

The initial agreement for Absheron required that two wells be drilled on the block. In 1998, a seismic environmental impact assessment was performed; and in 1998 and 1999, 3D seismic was conducted and processed in an effort to pinpoint a location for the first well.

The first well on the Absheron block was drilled in 2001. Encountering no commercial reserves, the well was plugged and abandoned. Although SOCAR criticized the well site for being too far from the center of the field, Chevron decided in late 2003 to pull out of the agreement, paying with Total $40 million to SOCAR rather than drill another well. The consortium was dissolved.

Bright Future

In June 2008, Total signed a Heads of Agreement with SOCAR and became the operator of the Absheron offshore block. In February 2009, Total signed the Exploration, Development, Production Sharing Agreement on the block, securing the operatorship for the exploration phase of the block and sharing the operatorship with SOCAR for development.

In June 2009, GDF Suez acquired a 20% stake in the Absheron block. After this farm-in, Total holds 40% interest, and SOCAR holds the remaining 40%. Exploration efforts on Absheron are ongoing.

Exploratory Drilling

In September 2011, Total made a gas discovery in the Absheron X-2 well when it encountered more than 500 feet (152 meters) of accumulated net gas pay within high-quality sands on the northern flank of an area in the Absheron Block.

Total said that the reservoirs should extend over the entire northern part of the structure, with the well’s first results confirming a potential amount of several trillion cubic feet of gas and related condensates. Current depth of the well is about 21,490 feet (6,550 meters) and drilling will continue to explore deeper objectives. Total will then examine the well to confirm the reservoir’s capacity.