News 2011
#1 (67) February 2011N Operating Company
Drilling of the first exploration well has been successfully completed and a deposit has been opened on the structure Rakushechnoye-sea on the contract territory N in the Kazakhstan sector of the Caspian Sea, informed N Operating Company LLP. Drilling was commenced in October and completed in December 2010. During drilling, the oil and gas bearing intervals have been discovered. Additional analysis and further exploration works are needed to assess the volume of reserves and potential of commercial oil and gas content of the discovered deposit. Drilling was carried out in accordance with the contract conditions and approved working programs, by applying the semisubmersible floating drilling rig Maersk Explorer belonging to Maersk Drilling Services A/S. Under drilling of the first exploration well the design depth of 2600 m was achieved, where the deposit has been discovered.
The offshore site N is located in the sector of the Caspian Sea at a depth reaching 340 m. This site includes 10 prospective structures. The structure Rakushechnoye-sea is located in the south of Middle Caspian outside the reserved zone. Prospecting and exploration of the oil and gas deposits are being conducted in the Jurassic, Cretaceous and Triassic sediments. The operating company has already started preparatory works on drilling the second exploration well which will be laid on the other structure. One more well will be drilled in 2012 - Nursultan. If hydrocarbons will be discovered on the structures Nursultan and Rakushechnoye-sea within the contract territory N, in 2013 it is planned to commence commercial production, said the source.
In the opinion of specialists, block N with the area of about 8100 sq. km, has a high potential for oil and gas. According to KazMunayGas, its geological reserves are estimated at over 630 million tons and recoverable - about 270 million tons.
In 2009, KazMunayGas, American ConocoPhillips and the state-owned Mubadala Development Company from the United Arab Emirates signed the contracts on the joint activity in exploration and development of block N in the Kazakhstan shelf of the Caspian Sea. The project's operator is N Operating Company LLP (based in Аktau). The shares of participants in this project are distributed as follows: КМG - 51 %, ConocoPhillips - 24,5 %, and Mubadala Development Company - 24,5 %. It is supposed that after commercial discovery, the bonus will be paid for discovery of hydrocarbons which will be assessed under certain arrangement.