Azernews.Az

Azerbaijani and Vietnamese state energy firms Socar and PetroVietnam signed last Friday a preliminary agreement to jointly explore three onshore oil blocks in the former Soviet state.

The trio hold estimated recoverable reserves of about 15 million tons of oil, according to the Azerbaijani outfit.

The document was signed by Socar`s First Vice President Khoshbakht Yusifzadeh and Deputy President of PetroVietnam Nguyen Vu Truong Son.

A production sharing agreement on the Muradkhanly-Jafarli-Zardab oil sites, situated 240 kilometers south-west of Baku, is expected to be signed in the near future, according to Reuters.

The Muradkhanly field was discovered in 1971, while Jafarli - in 1984 and Zardab in 1981.

A total of 183 wells have been drilled and 3.4 million tons of oil and 100 million cubic meters of gas produced at the fields. Last year, 26,000 tons of oil were extracted from the fields.

Socar said it was the first ever cooperation between oil-rich Azerbaijan and Vietnam`s largest oil producer.

British company RamCo had an agreement on these blocks in 1998, but closed down the project in 2001 after drilling one well.

Azerbaijan`s oil and condensate output last year fell 10.7% to 45.4 million tons from 50.8 million in 2010. The country expects to produce 45.45 million tons of oil in 2012.