Rosneft, Lukoil begin Caspian drilling

Russian oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil have started drilling at the Ribachya prospect in the North Caspian block, in the Russian sector of the Caspian Sea.

The planned drilling depth is 1650 meters. The aim of well, being drilled by the Astra jack-up rig is to explore the geologic structure and to detect oil and gas deposits, as well as to evaluate their commercial significance.

The project operator is Caspian Oil Company, established by Rosneft (49.892 %), Lukoil (49.892 %) and Gazprom (0.216 %).

According to Rosneft, the prospective resources at the North Caspian license are estimated at 260 mln tons (1.9 bln barrels) and 55 bcm of gas.