Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept. 30 /Trend, E.Ismayilov/
SOCAR's investments in new fields in Azerbaijan without a reliable way to transport gas do not make a sense, SOCAR senior official told Trend.
As previously stated guidance of Indian ONGC Videsh Limited, the company takes a keen interest in the exploration and development of prospective structures
"Babak" in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea.
As reported earlier, Indian ONGC Videsh Limited displays a strong interest in the exploration and development of Babek prospective structure in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea.
"They have long been displaying an interest in Babak and Umid structures, but still Azerbaijan approaches this with restraint. Umid is still developed by ourselves. There is an independent plan for the development of Babak, nevertheless, the realistic approach is that now it makes no sense to sanction, to invest in new fields, while we have no reliable way to transport gas," said the source.
At present, Azerbaijan is in the process of selecting a route for transporting gas to Europe.
The West is interested in cooperating with Azerbaijan in the energy sector, in particular within the Southern Gas Corridor, which aims to diversify routes and sources of supply, and thereby increase the energy security of the EU.
The Southern Gas Corridor project includes natural gas pipeline Nabucco, Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), ITGI (Turkey-Greece-Italy pipeline), White Stream.
SOCAR first vice-president on geology, geophysics and development Khoshbakht Yusifzade said earlier that the State Oil Company estimates reserves of Babak perspective structure at 400 billion cubic meters of gas and 80 million tons of oil.