Baku is hosting the Caspian Oil and Gas Trade-Transportation Conference today. Azerbaijani Minister for Industry and Energy Natig Aliyev made announcements about realization of the Southern Gas Corridor project.
The Caspian Region had an economic growth rate of 9.8% annually in 2000-2008. The GDP per capita will total $18,000 in Kazakhstan and $15,000 in Azerbaijan in 2035.
Rolan Kobia, head of the EU mission in Azerbaijan, said that the EU and Azerbaijan had clear strategic energy goals in energy. The European diplomat believes that opening the Southern Gas Corridor would become a victory of both sides and improve diversity of exports.
Kobia noted that the EU was willing to realize the Southern Gas Corridor as soon as possible. He praised the Azerbaijani-Turkish intergovernmental deal on construction of the Trans-Anatolia Gas Pipeline (TANAP) signed in June 2012.
Azerbaijan and Turkey signed a memorandum to form a consortium for deliveries of gas from the Shah Deniz Field to Europe through Turkey. TANAP will be used to export the majority of gas out of 50 billion cubic meters Azerbaijan plans to extract before 2025.
Natig Aliyev says that the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijani Republic (SOCAR) should improve control over operations at the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli Field. He added that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s remarks about reduction of extraction made were fair.
Ilham Aliyev made the remarks at the Cabinet during talks on the first 9 months of socio-economic development of 2012. He blamed BP for reducing extraction at the Azeri and Chirag fields. Total loss of income was over $8 billion.
The deal on Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli Field development was signed in 1994. BP (operator) has a share of 35.78% in the project, Chevron 11.27%, Inpex 10.96%, AzACG 11.65%, Statoil 8.56%, Exxon 8%, ТРАО 6.75%, Itocu 4.3% and Hess 2.72% (sold to ONGC of India, the deal ends in Q1 2013).
