Shafag-Asiman

The production sharing agreement (PSA)  between bp and SOCAR for joint exploration and development of the Shafag-Asiman offshore block in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea was signed in Baku on 7 October 2010.

The Shafag-Asiman block lies some 125 kilometers (78 miles) to the south-east of Baku and is located in a deepwater section of about 650-800 meters. The block is located 60km from Shah Deniz and 145km from the Sangachal terminal.

In 2012, a 3D seismic acquisition programme was conducted on the Shafag-Asiman contract area. Interpretation of the seismic dataset was completed in 2015, followed by the selection of the exploration well location and planning of drilling activities.

The first exploration well on Shafag-Asiman was spudded on 13 January 2020. The drilling was completed in March 2021 to the base of the Fasila reservoir to a depth of 7,189 metres. The well encountered gas condensate resource in the penetrated reservoirs.

In the first half of 2023, the interpretation of the results of the reprocessing of the data obtained from the first exploration well was completed.

On 3 June 2025, bp, SOCAR and TPAO signed several agreements enabling TPAO to join the PSA for the Shafag-Asiman block.

Further evaluation of the Shafag-Asiman block is required to help identify the most suitable option to advance the project. To this end, additional evaluation activities will be undertaken, including drilling a well into the Lower Surakhany reservoir. To enable these activities, the exploration period under the Shafag-Asiman Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) was extended in June 2025, with bp continuing as operator during this period. Currently, work is underway to plan for future activities.

The participating interests in Shafag-Asiman are as follows: bp (operator – 35%), SOCAR (35%), and TPAO (30%, joined the PSA in June 2025).