Petroleum 20 years: the best
BackA Fourth Attempt. Despite failures, the investors are drilling the shelf
There is the bad news from the Kazakhstan sector of the Caspian Sea. The company Atash, the equal founders of which are Kazakhstan marine oil company KazMunayTeniz and Russian LUKOIL Overseas Shelf B.V., declared about failure under drilling of the first exploration well on the structure Atash in the Kazakhstan sector of the Caspian Sea. The well appeared dry. This is already a third failure on the Caspian shelf. However, investors are ready to risk further.
A dead zone
At the end of June, the self-elevating drilling rig Astra belonging to LUKOIL, has completed exploration drilling on the design depth of 2500 meters on the structure Atash in the Kazakhstan sector of the Caspian Sea commenced on April 28. As a result of exploration, neither oil, nor gas were discovered on Atash.
Earlier, two other failures reached the oilmen under drilling of the first exploration wells on the neighboring structures Tyub-Karagan and Кurmangazy, where subsidiary of KazMunayGas, KazMunayTeniz, operates in partnership with LUKOIL Overseas and Rosneft. The Russian sources also named as unsuccessful the last year's drilling of the first exploration well on the site of Zhemchuzhina, the operator of which is Caspi Meruerty Operating Company B.V. The reason for such estimates is that contrary to usual practice, the results were operatively recognized as successful without tests. However, neither Shell RD Offshore Ventures Ltd (40 %), nor КаzMunayTeniz (40 %), or Oman Pearls Company Ltd (20 %), being partners in this project, have not commented the information on failure which appeared in the press. Detailed results of first drilling works on this block have not been sounded also.