Iran’s oil minister Mohsen Paknejad has ordered the renewal of exploratory drilling in the shallow waters of the Caspian Sea, after it was halted in 1997, the oil ministry’s Shana news agency said on Friday.

The drilling aims to reach a final depth of 5,077 metres to assess the reservoir potential of the Rudsar structure in Block 18 at a depth of 70 metres, Shana added.

The last well drilled in the Caspian’s shallow waters was in 1997. Drilling in the deeper parts of the Caspian has also been halted since 2014.
Source: Reuters