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 8.71 percent interest in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil export pipeline, which crosses Azerbaijan, Georgia Turkey, connecting the Caspian with the Mediterranean Sea.
By Murat Temizer
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr