Baku, Azerbaijan, June 29
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
Norwegian Equinor doesn’t plan to take part in any oil and gas project in Iran, a source in the company told Trend commenting on the possibility of entering the Iranian market.
“We have no activity in Iran, and have no plans for any projects,” said the source.
As for the Central Asian countries, the Equinor representative said the company has no activity currently in Central Asian countries.
“We continuously evaluate business opportunities globally, but as a matter of policy we don't comment on possible business development,” said the source.
As for the agreements with Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR, namely, a risk-service agreement on the Karabakh field and a production sharing and exploration agreement on the Dan Ulduzu, Ashrafi and Aypara promising structures, the source said Equinor is awaiting ratification by the parliament in Azerbaijan.
“Beyond that there are no updates at this time,” added the company representative.
The contract for developing Ashrafi – Dan Ulduzu block of structures, signed in 1997 between SOCAR (20 percent), BP (30 percent), Unocal (25.5 percent), Itochu (20 percent) and Delta HESS (4.5 percent), lost validity on March 7, 2000. Hydrocarbon reserves in the amount of 20-40 million tons were discovered at the Ashrafi field.
Initial oil reserves of the Karabakh oil and gas field, discovered in 2000, amount to 100 million tons. SOCAR operates Karabakh field’s development.
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