Shafag-Asiman is a large complex of offshore geological structures in the Caspian Sea

Caspian Sea

The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. The sea has a surface area of and a volume of...

 located 125 km (77.7 mi) southeast of Baku

Baku

Baku , sometimes spelled as Baki or Bakou, is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal...

, Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...

. The Shafag and Asiman structures have been previously called D8 and D10, respectively.

History

MOU

Memorandum of understanding

A memorandum of understanding is a document describing a bilateral or multilateral agreement between parties. It expresses a convergence of will between the parties, indicating an intended common line of action. It is often used in cases where parties either do not imply a legal commitment or in...

 for exploring the Shafag-Asiman structures was signed on July 13, 2009. According to the initial agreement, the offshore block will be jointly developed by BP

BP

BP p.l.c. is a global oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors"...

 and State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR). The MOU was signed by the President of SOCAR, Rovnag Abdullayev

Rovnag Abdullayev

Rovnag Ibrahim oglu Abdullayev is the director of the SOCAR oil company and has been president of the Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan since 2008...

 and Chief Executive of Exploration and Production of BP, Andy Inglis

Andy Inglis

Andrew G. Inglis b. 51 is a British engineer and Head of Exploration and Production of British oil company BP.-Background:Andrew graduated from Pembroke College with an MA in engineering in 1980....

 in the presence of President of Azerbaijan

President of Azerbaijan

The country of Azerbaijan is a presidential republic, with the President of Azerbaijan as the head of state, and the Prime Minister of Azerbaijan as head of government...

, Ilham Aliyev

Ilham Aliyev

Ilham Heydar oglu Aliyev is the President of Azerbaijan since 2003. He also functions as the Chairman of the New Azerbaijan Party and the head of the National Olympic Committee...

 and former Prime Minister of Great Britain, Gordon Brown

Gordon Brown

James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...

. The MOU was followed by signing of Heads of Agreement

Heads of Agreement (law)

A heads of agreement is a non-binding document outlining the main issues relevant to a tentative agreement. A heads of agreement document will only be enforceable when it is adopted into a parent contract and subsequently agreed upon...

 on basic commercial principles on joint exploration and development of the fields by Rovnag Abdullayev and President of BP Azerbaijan, Rashid Javanshir

Rashid Javanshir

Rashid Javanshir is an Azerbaijani executive. In 2001, he was the president of Shah Daniz, Inam and Alov, three of BP's major PSA's . In 2006, Javanshir was the vice-president of BP-Azerbaijan, and in August 2009 he was appointed president.-External links:*...

 on July 6, 2010 during the visit of President of BP, Tony Hayward

Tony Hayward

Anthony Bryan "Tony" Hayward is a British businessman, the former chief executive of oil and energy company BP. He replaced John Browne, Baron Browne of Madingley on 1 May 2007. His tenure ended on 1 October 2010 in large part due to the circumstances of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill...

 to Azerbaijan. The PSA

Production sharing agreement

Production sharing agreements are a common type of contract signed between a government and a resource extraction company concerning how much of the resource extracted from the country each will receive....

 for development and exploration of Shafag-Asiman block covers a period of 30 years with potential extension of up to 5 more years. First two exploration wells will be drilled within the next four years with possible extension of exploration works for 3 more years. All costs for exploration works will be covered by BP. Development of Shafag-Asiman block is considered by some as extension of Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli

Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli

Azeri–Chirag–Guneshli is a large complex of oil fields in the Caspian Sea, about off the coast of Azerbaijan. An overall estimated area of the field is . It is operated by a BP-led consortium. The ACG fields have estimated recoverable reserves of about of petroleum...

(ACG) project, operated by BP. Exploration works are expected to start in the second half of 2016 and continue through the second half of 2017.

Reservoir

The offshore block covers an area of nearly 1100 square kilometres (424.7 sq mi) which have never been explored before. The fields are located in a deepwater section of close to 650 to 800 m (2,132.5 to 2,624.7 ft) with a reservoir depth of about 7000 metres (22,965.9 ft). The initial reserves are estimated to be about 500 billion cubic meters of gas and 65 million tons of condensate. The 2D geophysical surveys previously conducted at block indicate that these deeply-laying structures may contain big amounts of gas. The 3D-seismic study in three stages is being carried out by Caspian Geophysical under BP contract. The first phase will be completed in 2011; the second data processing phase in 2012 and the third data interpretation phase in the first half of 2014.