BP Plc (BP/)’s talks with Azerbaijan on the deepwater section of the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli field may be completed by the year-end, an Azeri energy official said.
The section holds 200 billion to 300 billion cubic meters of natural gas, State Oil Co. of Azerbaijan First Vice-President Xosbaxt Yusifzada said in an interview broadcast on Azeri news channel ANS late yesterday.
Socar, as the company is known, will also begin exploration drilling at Babak, another Caspian Sea block off Azerbaijan, this year or in early 2012 as long as the producer is able to obtain new offshore drilling rigs, Yusifzada said. Babak is believed to contain 400 billion cubic meters of gas, he said.
By 2025, Azerbaijan will produce 50 billion cubic meters of gas, with 11-12 billion cubic meters for domestic consumption and the rest exported, Yusifzada said.