Baku News

22 October 2007 - Upstream OnLine - UK supermajor BP will begin drilling a second exploration well at the Inam project in Azerbaijan by the beginning of next year after a six-year delay, Gregory Riley, the company's exploration manager for the country said today. Exploration at the Caspian Sea project will start in later this year or early next year, Reuters quoted Riley as saying. "The work will last 220 to 240 days and drilling will begin in the north-eastern part of the structure, in water 186 metres deep," he told the news agency. Drilling of these wells would complete exploration of the Inam project, he added. New technology tested by Shell would be used for drilling at Inam, in an area prone to high pressure, an official for Azeri state energy company Socar told Reuters. Socar, BP, Korea National Oil Corporation and Shell run the $4 billion project, estimated to hold more than 730 million barrels of oil.