Parliament OKs new SOCAR,BP deal
By Gulgiz Dadashova
Azerbaijan’s parliament has ratified a PSA contract on joint exploration work on promising structures located around the shallow part of the Absheron Peninsula in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea.
The agreement was signed between British BP and Azerbaijan’s state energy company SOCAR on December 22, 2014. This agreement is part of the government's plan to fully explore all the coastal areas of the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea.
Parliamentary Vice-Speaker Valeh Alasgarov said the contract will cover three stages, namely primary exploration, basic exploration, development and production.
“The contract period is 23 years,” he said adding that depending on the progress, this period may be extended.
Noting that BP has extensive experience and appropriate equipment required for the work under the agreement, Alasgarov said SOCAR will monitor the progress of the contract, which will be implemented in accordance with the national interests of Azerbaijan.
The area of water, covered by the PSA agreement, extends along the southern part of the Absheron Peninsula. The sea depth is up to 40 meters in this territory, but the depth of the potentially productive strata is 3,000-5,000 meters.
In Azerbaijan, BP operates under several production sharing agreements and host government agreements (HGAs) signed with the government of Azerbaijan. The projects operated by BP Azerbaijan are the Azeri-Chirag-Deepwater Gunashli (ACG) oil field, the Shah Deniz gas and condensate field, and three export pipelines: Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan, South Caucasus Pipeline and Western Route Export Pipeline.
SOCAR is involved in exploring oil and gas fields, producing, processing, and transporting oil, gas, and gas condensate, marketing petroleum and petrochemical products in the domestic and international markets, and supplying natural gas to industry and the public in Azerbaijan.
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