SOCAR to double its share in ACG fields block

Baku. 14 September. REPORT.AZ/ Share of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) will more than double in a new agreement on development of "Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli" (ACG) fields block in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea.

Report informs citing the Reuters, SOCAR First Vice-President Khoshbakht Yusifzadeh said.

According to him, under a new agreement, the company's share will rise to 25% from 11.6%.

Notably, new Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) will be signed today to extend the contract on ACG fields block development until 2050.

SOCAR and AIOC (Azerbaijan International Operating Company) have signed in Baku on December 23, 2016, a letter of intent on further development of the ACG fields block. BP is the operator acting on behalf of AIOC. The document reflects principles of the agreement on the block development until 2050.

ACG is a super-giant field block located about 100 km east of Baku. It is the biggest producing oil field in the Caspian Sea and covers an area of more than 432 square kilometers. Fields lie in water depths of between 120 and 170 meters. The depth of the reservoir is 2,000-3,500 meters.

The existing ACG PSA was signed on September 20, 1994 for 30 years. The AIOC was established in February 1995. Oil production from the field began in November 1997.

Participants in the ACG are the companies BP (35,8% as operator), SOCAR (11,6%), Chevron (11,3%), Inpex (11%), Statoil (8,6%), ExxonMobil (8%), TPAO (6,8%), Itochu (4,3%), ONGC Videsh Ltd. (OVL) - (2.7%).

ACG block consists of 6 production platforms and they are connected with the Sangachal terminal near Baku through pipelines. The produced oil is exported from the terminal mainly through Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil export pipeline and Western Route Export Pipeline stretching to Supsa.