Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

This year is of great importance for enhancing cooperation on many projects between the Azerbaijani state oil company SOCAR and Norway's energy giant Statoil, SOCAR head Rovnag Abdullayev has said at a meeting with a senior Statoil official, Trend news agency reported.

During the meeting with Lars Christian Bacher, Executive Vice President for Development and Production International, Abdullayev informed him about the first and second phases of developing Shah Deniz, a giant Azerbaijani offshore gas condensate field with total reserves estimated at 1.2 trillion cubic meters.

Abdullayev also mentioned the continuing consideration of projects proposed within the Southern Gas Corridor -- which envisions transportation of gas from the resource-rich Caspian region to European countries.

Bacher, in turn, expressed confidence that in 2013 successes will be achieved not only in the projects on the development of Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) block of oil fields and Shah Deniz gas field in the Caspian Sea, but also in the projects implemented by SOCAR in Azerbaijan and abroad.

Total ACG recoverable reserves under the Production Sharing Agreement period (1994-2024) are at 5.4 billion barrels of oil, according to BP estimates.

85 percent of the ACG field's crude oil is taken to the Sangachal terminal near the Azerbaijani capital Baku, and is delivered through Georgia to Turkey's port of Ceyhan at the Mediterranean Sea. ACG oil is transported by the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline.

Statoil participates in both the ACG and Shah Deniz projects, as well as other major energy projects, such as the BTC oil pipeline and South Caucasus Pipeline (SCP), a section of the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum (BTE) gas pipeline crossing Azerbaijan and Georgia.

According to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, Statoil is the second biggest foreign investor in Azerbaijan's economy.

Statoil owns 8.71 percent of shares in the BTC pipeline.

Statoil as well as BP are the biggest shareholders in the Shah Deniz project, each holding a stake of 25.5 percent.

Statoil and BP lead the South Caucasus Pipeline Company, a consortium that owns the 700 km-long SCP pipeline. Both companies have shares of 25.5 percent. Statoil also serves as the commercial operator for SCP, which transports Shah Deniz gas that is supplied to neighboring Georgia and Turkey.

Statoil also participates in gas production and exploration on Alov, Araz and Sharg fields in Azerbaijan's sector of the Caspian Sea.