State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) has announced its intention to conclude a new agreement with the current partners to develop Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) bloc of oil and gas fields, reported SOCAR.
The statement has been made during the meeting between representatives of SOCAR and State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) and companies-partner of the ACG development, including BP, Statoil, Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Itochu, Inpex, TPAO and ONGC Videsh.
The sides have exchanged opinions on the current and further development of the field.
“Representatives of BP and other partners have highly evaluated stable investment and business climate in Azerbaijan and also said that take that into consideration in their future operation plans. They have also mentioned efficiency of a long-term of cooperation with SOCAR and called SOCAR a reliable partner,” reads the statement.
It has been mentioned during the meeting that BP and its partners have conducted long-lasting technical discussions on future development of ACG. It has been established during these discussions that the ACG bloc still has a high potential of resources. During the discussions we have also studied efficiency of joint development of hydrocarbon resources after expiration of the current production sharing agreement (PSA).
“During the meeting we spoke about possibility of signing of a new PSA with SOCAR on further development of ACG bloc with the current partners and SOCAR has announced its intention to do so, which was received by BP and its partners with satisfaction,” reads the statement.
The participants of the meeting have also come to an agreement on the steps, which will be taken in the future.
The current contract on the ACG bloc development expires in 2024. The contract for ACG bloc development was signed in 1994. The proved oil resources of these fields are estimated at approximately 1 billion tons. At present production volume on the contract area totals about 630,000 barrels a day.
The shares in the contract are distributed as following: BP (operator with 35.78%), Chevron – 11.27%, Inpex – 10.96%, SOCAR – 11.65%, Statoil – 8.56%, Exxon – 8%, ТРАО – 6.75%, Itochu – 4.3% and ONGC – 2.72%.
* As Caspian Barrel found out from the governmental sources, the new PSA is scheduled to be signed next year. By that time commercial conditions of the new agreement will be ready.
