Azerbaijan, Baku, August 14 / Trend, A.Akhundov /
Azerbaijani Insurance Company Ltd. Pasa Sıgorta has been selected as a local insurance partner of the Chirag oil project (COP), which envisages oil production increase at the block of the offshore field Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli, the company's Board Chairman Nofel Rzayev said Aug.13. The company already serves as a local insurance partner of the Shah Deniz and Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan projects.
"At present development of the insurance part of the project is being conducted jointly with the U.S. insurance broker Marsh, and by Oct.1 it is expected to issue all insurance policies," Rzayev said.
Since 2008 JSC Pasa Sıgorta is a local insurance partner on the projects of development of the block of the oil fields Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli, Shah Deniz and Baku-Tbilisi -Ceyhan pipeline in Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea.
Pasa Sıgorta was certified in London as a strategic local insurance partner in July 2008.
The joint agreement between the insurer and operator of oil and gas projects - BP implies a process of registration of insurance policies on covering of operating risks, risks on liability and terrorism, and the risks on property in the projects of development of the block of the oil fields Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli and gas condensate field Shah Deniz, and the risks on exploitation of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline.
Pasa Sıgorta acts in partnership with the broker company Marsh and leading international reinsurance companies.
"In each country, BP risk management chooses a partner, and BP conducted an audit within one and a half year before this decision. Audit of the management system of the company was conducted," Rzayev said.
In order to be a strategic local partner of BP on energy risks insurance, one must have a very strong technical level. "One have to be a world class insurer because risks insurance in BP is held in the command order - BP risk management, partner organizations, the brokers from London attend it, that is, a very large team of experienced professionals is involved," he said.
According to him, the local partner should have a high technical level, but Pasa Sıgorta today has four specialists, certified with CII (Chartered Insurance Institute).
"We have also passed this part of the audit, as a result a positive decision was adopted, which gave us the opportunity to become a partner in energy projects, as Pasa Sıgorta was very much appreciated when evaluating BP partners around the world. BP is satisfied with Pasa Sıgorta works in its field, " Rzayev said.
Earlier, these energy risks in Azerbaijan were insured by another major insurance company Ateshgah, 30 percent of the shares of which is owned by the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR).
A contract to develop the offshore field Shah-Deniz was signed June 4, 1996.
Participants of the agreement on production sharing in "Shah Deniz" project: BP (operator - 25,5 percent), Statoil (25,5 percent), SOCAR (10 percent), LUKOIL (10 percent), NICO (10 percent), Total (10 percent), and TPAO (nine percent).
Participants on development of major offshore fields "ACG" are: BP (operator - 34.1367 percent of share holding), Chevron
(10.2814 percent), SOCAR (10 percent), INPEX (10 percent), Statoil (8.5633 percent), ExxonMobil (8.006 percent), TPAO (6.75 percent), Devon Energy (5.6262 percent), Itochu (3.9205 percent), Delta Hess (2.7213 percent). The amount of the needed investments is about $6 billion.
Pasa Sıgorta is a member of the group Pasa Holding. It renders services to corporate and individual clients on 31 types of insurance. Pasha Sıgorta is among the five leading insurers of the country on capitalization with total assets of 20 million manat. It maintains one of the highest indices of profitability in the insurance sector of the country. Since 2007, the management system of Pasha Sıgorta has been certified by the British agency Moody on international standard ISO 9001: 2000. Since 2009 Pasha Sıgorta is a party to UN Global Compact Initiative for the protection of human rights, environmental protection and countering corruption.
Aug.13, official exchange rate is 0.8037 manat to $1.