LUKOIL and SOCAR mull joint exploration in Azerbaijan's 2 offshore blocks

Davos, January 24 - Neftegaz.RU. Azerbaijan´s SOCAR and Russian LUKOIL will sign an agreement on exploration of 2 offshore blocks in Azerbaijan, Azernews reported. "We are discussing a number of projects, incl. the Nakhchivan block, the offshore block and the so-called transition zone in the north of Absheron. At least our geologists consider them promising," CEO of LUKOIL Vagit Alekperov told reporters in Switzerland.

"We are going to negotiate exploration with SOCAR. The agreement most likely will be signed at the forum," Alekperov added. Earlier, President Ilham Aliyev and Alekperov discussed LUKoil’s participation in the development of the Nakhchivan and Goshadash fields as part of the meeting in Davos.

The Goshadash structure is located in the north-eastern part of the Absheron archipelago, in 15 km from the coast, at a distance of 35-40 km from Baku. The depth of water here is 50 m. Malaysian Petronas showed interest in developing this area. In the meantime, SOCAR and LUKoil have confirmed their intention to cooperate on a number of offshore structures in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea.

“The head of SOCAR Rovnag Abdullayev and Vagit Alekperov in Davos signed a MoU on cooperation on the exploration block, which incl. Nakhchivan prospective structure and the shallow structures of Goshadash and the Caspian-Guba,” according to SOCAR's official website.

The structure of Nakhchivan is located 85 km south of Baku. Investments in the development of the field are estimated at $2 billion. Projected reserves are 110 million tons of oil and 85 billion cu m of gas.

Earlier, Abdullayev met with Alekperov on 11 November 2019. At the meeting, the sides exchanged views on the current state and prospects of cooperation between the 2 companies.

To read the full story in Russian.


Author: Abdul Kerimkhanov