Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, April 26
By Huseyn Hasanov – Trend:
BP is ready to expand its presence in the Caspian region, Trend reports with reference to the Turkmen news agency ORIENT.
“We look forward to further strengthening and expanding our presence in the Caspian region,” said Jim Platt, BP business development manager in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, at the 7th session of the Turkmenistan-UK Trade and Industry Council held in Ashgabat, according to the report.
“BP is the largest player in the global energy business, and we operate on six continents, that is, around the world,” he noted. “We have a very diversified investment portfolio, and are confident that we need to work both in the upstream sector (exploration, production and primary preparation of hydrocarbons), and in the downstream sector (processing of hydrocarbons and marketing its final products).”
“We believe that interaction with host parties is a really win-win situation for both British Petroleum and the countries involved in such cooperation,” he added. “And we look forward to further strengthening and expanding our presence in the Caspian region.”
According to a report by BP, Turkmenistan ranks fourth in the world in terms of natural gas reserves and currently exports it to China and Iran.
The reserves of the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea are estimated by experts at 12.1 billion tons of oil and condensate, 6.1 trillion cubic meters of gas.
Such fields as Makhtumkuli, Diyarbekir and Garagol Deniz have been prepared for test commissioning in the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea.
The priority is to conclude production sharing agreements (PSAs) with foreign companies.
Local estimates demonstrate that more than 80 percent of resources of the Turkmen part of Caspian Sea are located in sediments at depths above 3,000 meters and in poorly studied areas of oil and gas accumulation.
Turkmenistan annually produces about 10 million tons of oil. Production is provided by the state-owned Turkmen Oil and PSA-based companies from the United Kingdom, Malaysia, and the United Arab Emirates.
International companies such as Petronas, Dragon Oil, Buried Hill, RWE Dea AG, Areti and Eni are involved in the development and research of hydrocarbon resources of the Turkmen part of the Caspian Sea.