SOCAR suggests developing special standards for oil and gas operations in Caspian Sea

The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) offers foreign partners to conduct offshore oil and gas operations in Azerbaijan following the standards of the Caspian Sea, SOCAR Vice President, Babak Huseynov, said on the second day of the Baku Energy Forum, Report informs.

According to him, in Azerbaijan, all international companies adhere to global standards during their operations. This practice is both customary and appropriate, as it guarantees operational safety and work quality, he said.

“However, we believe that these standards should be adapted to the conditions of the Caspian Sea," he said.

He stressed that the standards applied in the North Sea might not be applicable in the Caspian Sea due to different climatic conditions.

The vice president added that adaptation of international standards to the conditions of the Caspian region will lead to significant reduction in financial costs:

"It is not as cold here as in the North Sea. In other words, icebergs do not drift in the Caspian Sea. Therefore, it would be more efficient to work with the standards of the Caspian Sea, that is, international standards adapted to the conditions of this basin. We conducted a study and determined that the implementation of the standards of the Caspian Sea will save our costs hundreds of millions of USD."

Huseynov also pointed out that the implementation of this initiative is a complex process: "Our approach is that we ourselves should develop standards suitable for the Caspian region and implement projects according to them, create infrastructure."