TotalEnergies and SOCAR to conduct drone-based methane detection campaigns

French company TotalEnergies and the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) have signed a cooperation agreement to conduct methane detection and measurement campaigns using drones, Azernews reports.

The first campaign will be conducted at the Absheron gas field and subsequent campaigns will be launched within SOCAR's projects in Azerbaijan. These campaigns will be conducted using AUSEA (Airborne Ultra Lightweight Spectrometer for Environmental Applications) technology, developed by TotalEnergies and its R&D partners, which provides highly accurate detection and quantification of methane emissions from oil and gas facilities.

AUSEA consists of a miniaturized dual sensor mounted on a drone capable of detecting methane and carbon dioxide emissions and at the same time identifying their source. The technology was developed by TotalEnergies, the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), and the University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne and is now considered the most accurate technology in the world for detecting and measuring methane emissions.

It should be noted that the Absheron gas condensate field, located about 100 kilometers southeast of Baku in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea, is operated by JOCAP. The first gas from the Absheron field was produced in early July this year.

SOCAR expects the field to produce 1.8 million barrels of oil and 707 million cubic meters of natural gas in 2023. The launch of the Absheron field is the largest project in Azerbaijan's oil and gas sector after Shah Deniz-2.