PARIS, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- French supermajor Total announced Friday that it made a significant discovery of natural gas off the coast of Azerbaijan near the Shah Deniz field.
Total said initial test results from the Absheron X-2 well suggest a potential reserve total of around 7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and associated condensates.
"This discovery could be very significant in terms of resources," Marc Blaizot, Total's senior vice president for exploration, said in a statement.
The discovery was made in 1,640 feet of water with a well depth of about 21,000 feet. The Absheron block is off the coast of Azerbaijan in the Caspian Sea about 15 miles northeast of the Shah Deniz field.
Azerbaijan is emerging as a natural gas leader. Europe views Azeri gas as a way to break Russia's grip on the regional energy sector.
The State Oil Co. of Azerbaijan said pipeline groups involved in the proposed Italy-Greece natural gas interconnector, Trans-Adriatic Pipeline and Nabucco are called on to provide it with information regarding the transit of Shah Deniz gas to Europe by Oct. 1.
