Azernews.Az

By Trend

Despite that 20 years have passed, the production sharing agreement on development of the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) block of oil and gas fields hasn’t lost its significance, Rovnag Abdullayev, president of Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR, said.

He made the remarks Oct. 25 in Baku at a meeting of the Azerbaijani parliament’s Committee for Natural Resources, Energy and Ecology.

The meeting discussed a draft law on adopting, approving, and issuing permission to implement the Agreement on Joint Development and Production Sharing for the Azeri and Chirag Fields and Deep Water Section of the Gunashli Field in the Azerbaijani Sector of the Caspian Sea, signed by SOCAR’s AzACG, BP Exploration (Caspian Sea) Limited, Chevron Khazar Ltd., Exxon Azerbaijan Limited, INPEX Southwest Caspian Sea Ltd., ITOCHU Oil Exploration (Azerbaijan) Inc., ONGC Videsh Limited, Statoil Absheron, and TPAO.

Abdullayev, a member of the committee, spoke about significance of the agreement and noted that no significant changes were made to the draft law.

“Only the figures regarding Azerbaijan’s current economic development have changed, and this is a good indicator for us,” Abdullayev said.

In turn, vice speaker of Azerbaijan’s parliament, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for Natural Resources, Energy and Ecology Valeh Alasgarov said SOCAR and Azerbaijan signed this new, extended agreement on even more favorable terms than before.

“The extended agreement provides conditions for companies to operate at lower risks, and in return, Azerbaijan annually receives funds worth $450 million during eight years.”

The draft law was recommended for discussion at a plenary session of the Azerbaijani parliament.