SOCAR drills deep

BAKU, Azerbaijan, Sept. 1 (UPI) -- Azerbaijan launched three deep-water wells at offshore fields near the municipality of Sahil near the coast of the Caspian Sea, the national oil company said.

The State Oil Co. of Azerbaijan Republic announced three new wells were established near Sahil near the capital Baku, the Trend news agency reported.

Drilling at the Umid field, the first exploration well there, is projected to reach a depth of 21,325 feet. Drilling depth as of August was 3,937 feet. The field is expected to yield about 1.05 trillion cubic feet of natural gas total.

A rig at the offshore Bulla-Deniz gas field is scheduled to drill to a depth of nearly 21,000 feet. Gas extraction reached close to 16 million feet per day. Geological surveys suggest more gas is available, however.

Drilling at the March 8 field, meanwhile, reached a depth of 19,357 feet with yields expected to reach 14.8 million cubic feet of gas per day.

Azerbaijan sits on some of the richest oil and gas deposits in the world. Europe hopes to tap the offshore Shah Deniz gas field for its Nabucco gas pipeline.