Norway's Equinor and Azerbaijani state oil company SOCAR signed a risk service agreement for the development of the Karabagh oil field in the Caspian Sea, Equinor said on Wednesday.
The Karabagh oil field located 120 kilometers east of Baku is close to the SOCAR-operated Shallow Water Gunashli field and BP-operated Azeri Chirag Gunashli (ACG) field, in which Statoil Azerbaijan has a 7.27 percent interest.
The two companies also signed a product-sharing agreement for the development of the Ashrafi, Dan-Ulduzu and Aypara fields.
'The agreements signed today represent a natural next step in the region. This will strengthen our position in a prolific basin and develop growth options. The licenses lie in close proximity to the ACG field in a basin we know well. We now look forward to work on these new exploration projects in partnership with SOCAR,' said Eldar Saetre, president and CEO of Equinor.
To operate the licenses, Statoil Azerbaijan and SOCAR will form a 50-50 joint operating company.
By Murat Temizer
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr