Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 17/ Trend /
PETRAD, a Norwegian non-profit organisation, specialising in petroleum policy and resource management, petroleum development and operations courses launched a first alumni network in Azerbaijan.
'By facilitating experience transfer from Norway to Azerbaijan through an organisation such as PETRAD, we believe we can positively contribute to the prudent resource management and competence building in the country', says Tanguy Cosmao, Vice President Area Development for Statoil in Azerbaijan.
PETRAD Director Øystein Berg welcomed the guests of the seminar and said that 'one of the main objectives of PETRAD courses is to develop skills to ensure overall efficiency in petroleum policies and management, as well as operation of large-scale projects related to the upstream hydrocarbon sector.'
Prof. Ove Tobias Gudmestad spoke about new trends in subsea developments, a technology that Azerbaijan is going to use on its first subsea production on Shah Deniz field in the Caspian Sea.
The first gathering of the PETRAD alumni in Azerbaijan was attended by around 15 former PETRAD azerbaijani participants. Representatives of the government insitutions also took part in the seminar. Learn more about PETRAD at www.petrad.no.
The event was organized and facilitated by Statoil as part of the celebration of Statoil's 20th anniversary of activities in Azerbaijan. Statoil is marking its jubilee in the country contributing to a variety of events, spanning from Face to Face contemporary art exhibition that opened in Baku last week to 'Oil and Art' book documenting and preserving Azerbaijani art, to the Integrated Approach for Unlocking Hydrocarbon Resources, an international geology and geophysics conference held earlier this month.
Statoil is an international energy company with operations in 36 countries, and the largest off shore operator in the world. Building on 40 years of experience from oil and gas production on the Norwegian continental shelf, we are committed to accommodating the world's energy needs in a responsible manner, applying technology and creating innovative business solutions. Statoil is headquartered in Norway with 20,000 employees worldwide, and is listed on the New York and Oslo stock exchanges. More information on www.statoil.com
Statoil entered Azerbaijan in 1992. It is the second largest foreign investor in the country. Statoil has invested more than 5 billion USD and is a partner with 8,56% share in the oil producing Azeri-Chiraq-Guneshli (ACG ) field, the Shah Deniz gas field with 25,5% share, and the corresponding pipelines Baku-Tblisi-Cheyhan (BTC) and South Caucasus Pipeline (SCP). Our current production from Azerbaijan is around 100.000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, over 20% of Statoil's international production. We are in Azerbaijan with a long-term perspective.