Azerbaijan's
state energy company SOCAR signed an agreement with Norway's Statoil for a
joint exploration project on the Karabakh offshore oil and gas field and for
other fields in the Caspian Sea, SOCAR announced on Wednesday.
The
Azeri company said the planned activities in the Karabakh oil field, located in
the Caspian Sea and in other prospective areas are regarded as important
projects in Azerbaijan to maintain stable oil production and increase gas
production.
"Our
experts have worked productively and have achieved positive results. The
signing of the basic principles creates a solid foundation for future projects
that will bring new value to our economy," said Rovnag Abdullayev, SOCAR's
president during the signing ceremony.
The
Karabakh offshore block is located 130 kilometers east of the Azeri capital
Baku.
Statoil
has been working in Azerbaijan since 1992. In September, a 30-year production
sharing agreement for Azeri Chirag and Deep Water Gunashli oil field that was
signed in September 1994 was extended for another 25 years until the end of
2049. Statoil has a 7.26 percent interest in the extended contracts.
In
addition, Statoil has a
8.71 percent interest in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil export pipeline, which
crosses Azerbaijan, Georgia and
Turkey, connecting the Caspian with the Mediterranean Sea.
(Anadolu
Agency
)