Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept. 10 /Trend, E.Tariverdiyeva/
The discovery of large gas reserves on the Absheron field in Azerbaijan is great news for everyone who is interested in the Nabucco project, the Director of the Russia-Eurasia Center of the Council on Foreign Policy of Germany, Trend Expert Council Member Alexandr Rahr believes.
"Now we are entering a very serious phase, since the proof the presence of gas on the new Azerbaijani field will calm investors, and Azerbaijan may be considered as a major supplier to Nabucco," Rahr told Trend.
News on the discovery of large gas reserves on the Absheron field can play a positive role in realization of the Nabucco project, said the expert.
He said recently opinion on Nabucco was negative because of the uncertain position of Turkmenistan and the fears that gas will not be enough to fill up the pipeline.
The fate of Nabucco will be solved already very soon, and news about a new oil field in Azerbaijan can convince and reassure investors of the pipeline, said Rahr.
Investors of Nabucco want to as soon as possible move to concrete actions, and perhaps soon it will move off the ground, he said. "It is not time to conduct propaganda, it needs to hurry with the construction of Nabucco," said Rahr.
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev briefed about discovery of large gas reserves on the Absheron field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea on Friday.
According to Total, which is one of the participants of the contract on exploration and development of the "Absheron" field, gas reserves at the field are estimated at several trillion cubic feet of gas and condensate according to initial assessments.
Participants in Absheron are SOCAR (40 percent), Total (40 percent) and Gaz De France Suez (20 percent).
The contract on the Absheron Field was signed on Feb. 27, 2009 between SOCAR and Total. Later Total sold 20 percent of its equity participation to Gaz De France Suez.
The first exploration well is being drilled from the Heydar Aliyev drilling rig, operated by the Danish Maersk Drilling Company.
The Absheron bloc is located about 100 kilometers from Baku at a depth of 500 meters.