BP resumes Deepwater Gunashli platform’s work
BP, the operator of the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) block of oil and gas fields’ development, has completed the maintenance work on the Deepwater Gunashli platform and commissioned it on September 12, the company said in a message.
Production volumes are being gradually restored at the platform.
Azerbaijan resumes manufacture of oil products
The Heydar Aliyev Baku Oil Refinery has resumed the manufacture of oil products, reads a message from Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR.
The refinery suspended the manufacture of oil products in August due to the scheduled repair works.
Catalytic cracking, primary processing, coking and catalytic reforming facilities have been commissioned after the successful repair works.
“The refinery’s processing units successfully passed the hydraulic and regulatory tests after the overhaul and started to manufacture oil products,” said the SOCAR message.
SOCAR to ink contract on prospective structure in Caspian
Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR and Malaysia’s Petronas signed a memorandum of understanding on exploration, development and production of hydrocarbons at a block in the prospective offshore structure Goshadash, SOCAR said in a message. The Goshadash structure is located in the north-western part of the Absheron archipelago in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea. According to the memorandum, the companies will within six months coordinate the main commercial principles and terms of the production sharing agreement on the project.
SOCAR to sign new contract on large gas block in Azerbaijan
The Azerbaijani state oil company SOCAR plans to sign a new contract on the development of the Umid-Babek block of gas fields in the Caspian Sea by late 2016 to raise funds from international institutions and companies, Rovnag Abdullayev, SOCAR head, said.
“In general, the work is underway at the Umid field,” he said. “Drilling of the 14th well is under completion.”
"There is a long-term program of development of the Umid-Babek block,” he said. “We will be able to annually receive up to five billion cubic meters of gas only from the Umid field through this program.”
“The drilling operations are planned to be carried out at Babek field,” he said. “It is necessary to raise funds to develop these fields.”
“To do this, we will combine the two projects into one, bring it to the level of the PSA (Production Sharing Agreement), create a new structure that will handle its development,” Abdullayev said.
He said that SOCAR is currently preparing a new contract on the project. This type of contract will be signed for the first time in Azerbaijan. It was earlier reported that SOCAR will sign a risk-service-contract on the Umid-Babek block of fields.