The Russian oil company LUKOIL plans to take part in the development of the Azerbaijani-Turkmen oil and gas field Dostlug, Azerbaijani Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov said.
"On January 21, 2021, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the government of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the government of Turkmenistan on joint exploration and development of hydrocarbon resources of the Dostlug field in the Caspian Sea. LUKOIL expressed its intention to participate in the development of the Dostlug field as an operator", Shakhbazov said in an interview with the "Oil and Gas Vertical" magazine.
Igor Yushkov, a leading analyst at the National Energy Security Fund and lecturer at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, said in an interview with Vestnik Kavkaza that the work at the field will bring additional income to the Russian company, which is returning to the Dostlug development project.
“For LUKOI:, this is a project that can make more money with the help of its competencies in the production of hydrocarbons in the Caspian region. The company understands that Azerbaijan is interested in the development of the field and therefore, for its part, will make efforts to promote the project, administratively help it. Therefore, in fact, LUKOIL is proposing the game everyone will win from: the company will provide Azerbaijan with its technologies, its experience, and in exchange it will earn money. Everyone will get what they want," he said.
"LUKOIL has experience in the development of the Caspian shelf. It has two large projects - the Filanovsky and Korchagin fields. The company has both its own infrastructure and the necessary experience in developing fields from platforms. In addition, LUKOIL now has several opportunities for investments in foreign projects, so it can invest in the development of Dostlug. In this regard, the interests of Azerbaijan and the Russian company converge at one point," Igor Yushkov stressed.
