Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept.3
Trend:
The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) and Malaysian Petronas company have signed an addendum to the memorandum of understanding, SOCAR said.
The signing ceremony took place during the visit of a delegation led by the president and chief executive officer of Petronas company Datuk Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin in Baku, Sept.3.
At a meeting with SOCAR president Rovnag Abdullayev, Datuk Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin expressed interest in intensifying the cooperation with SOCAR.
Abdullayev said that the oil and gas industry of Azerbaijan has great opportunities for developing the cooperation and security of the investments made in the country is fully guaranteed.
Abdullayev spoke about the process of implementing the Shah Deniz-2 project and creating the Southern Gas Corridor, stressing that the work is being conducted on schedule.
"The conducted work gives confidence that the first gas supplies through the Southern Gas Corridor to Turkey will begin in 2018," Abdullayev said.
Currently, Petronas has a 15.5 percent share in the Shah Deniz field development project and the South Caucasus gas pipeline. It also owns a 12.4 percent stake in the Azerbaijan Gas Supply Company.
Petronas redeemed these shares from Norwegian Statoil, which announced its decision to sell a 20 percent stake in the Trans Adriatic Pipeline, estimated at about $ 400 million. Malaysian Petronas is an obvious candidate for participation in this project.
TAP's shareholding is comprised of BP (20 percent), SOCAR (20 percent), Statoil (20 percent), Fluxys (19 percent), Enagás (16 percent) and Axpo (5 percent).
The Southern Gas Corridor is a project that will enable Europe to diversify its sources of hydrocarbon supply and boost energy security and Azerbaijan - to get a new market in Europe.