Azernews.Az

By Nazrin Gadimova

A delegation of Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (ANAS) Geology Institute has visited the RWE Dea company and GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, which are based in Germany.

Progress in the work on the project titled "Oil and gas exploration prospects in the transition area" was discussed during the meetings. Vice President of ANAS, academician Ibrahim Guliyev,the Geology Institute's Dadash Huseynov and associated member of ANAS Akbar Feyzullayev delivered reports on the results of researches.

The main goal of the one-year project, which started in November 2012, is to study the oil and gas perspectives in the crossing areas of sea and land in Gobustan, Azerbaijan.

According to the ANAS vice president, it was impossible to carry out geophysical researches with existing technologies because of the depth of the studied area, which is about 20-30 meters. However, the production wells drilled previously in the neighboring areas were grounds to believe that these territories are prospective.

In the framework of the project scientists will re-analyze the results of previously conducted research and drilling work. On the basis of scientific and technical capacity and the experience of RWE Dea field work is underway to identify prospects in the transition zone.

During the visit the Azerbaijani delegation met with Head of the GEOMAR "Energy and Resources" group Dr. Warner Brückmann.

"Although the Caspian Sea region has been an oil production area for more than 100 years, there are still a lot of open questions concerning its geology and geophysics," Brückmann said. "That is why it is such a fascinating working area for basic research or applied sciences. We hope that today's visit will further advance our good cooperation with research institutions in Azerbaijan."

The Azerbaijani delegation was acquainted with the general scope of research carried out at GEOMAR and the latest geophysical methods and projects in particular. During a tour of the GEOMAR premises its representatives had the opportunity to get an overview of GEOMAR deep-sea technology and take a look at high-tech equipment such as the ROV Phoca remotely operated vehicle and JAGO, Germany's only manned submersible.

The ANAS Geology Institute has 24 research departments, the National Data Center of Azerbaijan, created in 2003 at the initiative of a committee of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), the center for collective use of scientific tools and equipment, and the Natural-History Museum named after Hasan Bey Zardabi.

The Institute promotes cooperation with nearly 30 foreign and international organizations and companies such as BP, ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron, Unocal Corporation, Statoil, ConocoPhillips, INTAS, UNESCO, NATO, the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), the US Civilian Research and Development Foundation (CRDF), etc.

Scientists of the Institute continue collaborative research with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to study the geodynamic situation in the Caucasus collision zone. Azerbaijan is equipped with 30 temporary and 3 permanent GPS stations - "Baku", "Shaki" and "Nefchala."

RWE Dea, an international oil and gas company headquartered in Hamburg, owns production facilities in Germany, the United Kingdom, Norway, Denmark, and Egypt, and also holds exploration licences in Algeria, Ireland, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Poland, Turkmenistan and Trinidad & Tobago. The company also operates natural gas underground storage facilities in Germany.

GEOMAR is among the three leading institutions in the field of marine sciences in Europe. Moreover, GEOMAR is active in a number of national and international committees and strategic alliances such as the German Marine Research Consortium (KDM), the German Climate Consortium (DKK), the Partnership for Observation of the Global Oceans (POGO) and the Marine Board of the European Science Foundation.