Azerbaijan, Baku, July 15 / Trend E.Ismayilov /
Azerbaijan's proved hydrocarbon reserves are estimated at 4.2 billion tons of fuel, the Head of the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) Rovnag Abdullayev said at a conference "Caspian Gas: Current Directions and Future Scenarios."
Azerbaijan's hydrocarbon reserves are estimated at 10 billion tons of standard fuel, he said.
Moreover, Abdullayev said that ensuring energy security, integration into the global energy market, and gradual diversification of supply routes of the country's oil and gas resources are among the company's priorities.
Azerbaijan has turned from being a gas importer into a gas exporter within a short period of time. The country's gas is supplied to Georgia, Russia, Turkey, Greece and Iran.
The country's gas production has increased 5.2 times over six years, from 5 to 26 billion cubic meters a year between 2004 and 2010.
Abdullayev said SOCAR is now working both independently and jointly with foreign partners to increase the country's production of gas production. Preparations are underway to launch the Shah Deniz-2. Currently about 23 million cubic meters of gas and 5,000 tons of condensate per day are produced from the Shah-Deniz field.
Work is also underway at other fields and promising structures, he said. SOCAR, together with France's Total, is drilling an exploration well on the Absheron field and preparing to start work on the Nakhchivan field in conjunction with Germany's RWE. In general, these two fields' reserves are estimated at 600 billion cubic meters of gas. The issue of deep-gas production from the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli fields is also under consideration.
In addition to cooperation with foreign companies, SOCAR carries out the independent development of fields in the Caspian Sea. The company opened a new field "Umid" in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea in 2010. Its reserves are estimated at 200 billion cubic meters of gas and 40 million tons of condensate.
Abdullayev said the opening of this field has become part of a new stage of SOCAR's development and increased the prospects and possibilities for new discoveries. It allowed to asses the Babak field's reserves at 400 billion cubic meters of gas and 80 million tons of condensate.
According to estimates, Azerbaijan's natural gas production will increase to 30 billion cubic meters per year by 2015, which will ensure the energy security of Azerbaijan and the region as a whole, as well as create opportunities to strengthen the energy security of Europe, Abdullayev said.
He stated that Azerbaijan has about 40 structures ready for drilling.