| Bahar oil field | |
|---|---|
| Country | Azerbaijan |
| Offshore/onshore | Offshore |
| Operator(s) | SOCAR |
| Partners | SOCAR, Bahar Energy Ltd |
| Field history | |
| Discovery | 1968 |
| Start of development | 1969 |
| Production | |
| Estimated oil in place (million tonnes) | 2.7 |
| Estimated gas in place | 18.4 billion cubic feet (520×106 m3) |
| Estimated gas in place (billion cubic meters) | 25 |
Bahar is an offshore oil and gas field in the Caspian Sea, located 40 km (25 mi) southeast of Baku, Azerbaijan. The field has been discovered in 1968[1] and was developed since 1969. Bahar has produced a little over 16.8 million tonnes of oil and 128.7 billion cubic meters of gas up until 2010.[2] There had been up to 93 wells operating in the field during the peak of production, however the number has since decreased to 16.[3]
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On December 22, 2009, State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic and an Emirati company Bahar Energy Ltd signed a production sharing agreement for exploration, rehabilitation and development of Bahar and Gum Deniz fields.[4] The deal was sealed by the President of SOCAR, Rovnag Abdullayev and General Director of Bahar Energy Ltd, Richard McDougall and is projected to last 25 years with possibility for extension of 5 more years. This is the 28th agreement SOCAR signs with a foreign investor on the basis of production sharing. Rovnag Abdullayev emphasized that SOCAR is planning on increase the overall gas production of Azerbaijan to 1 trillion cm. According to the agreement, within the next 3 years, Bahar Energy Ltd will drill one exploration well. The first stage of the project includes drilling of 50 wells. In addition to that, all existing wells will be rehabilitated for production. It is estimated that the first stage of the project will bring nearly $2.5 billion to SOCAR. Second stage of the project consists of exploration of Bahar-2 structure within the Bahar field.[5] As per the agreement SOCAR is to receive bonus of $2 million as soon as the project program is confirmed, $1 million for every 100 million barrels, $5 million once the commercial production starts and $2 million after increase of production capacity by 1.5 times from 2008 production indicators, as planned.[3] In 2008, the field produced 54-55,000 tonnes of oil and 195 million cm of gas. Bahar Energy Ltd owns 80% of the stake while SOCAR is entitled to 20%.[6] Forecasts have previously indicated that in 5 years, gas and condensate production in Bahar field would decrease by 15% and 10%, respectively which led to the idea of attracting foreign investment for stabilization of production.[2][7] It is expected that Bahar Energy Ltd will invest nearly $1 billion in the project.[5]
It is estimated that Bahar field holds 2.7 million tonnes of oil and between 18.4[8] and 25 billion[3][9] cubic meters of gas reserves. It contains oil and gas condensate in sandstones and sandy siltstones which belong to Pliocene Productive Series. The reservoir rocks have porosities of 13-18% and permeabilities of 45-250 mD. Biomarker geochemical analyses of onshore and offshroe fields indicate that the Pliocene oil and gas fields in South Caspian Basin had been mainly charged from epigenetic hydrocarbons.[1]
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