BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 11
By Nargiz Ismayilova – Trend:
The total revenues worth 4.7 million manat ($2.8 million) were transferred to the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) in 2019 from acreage payments made to Azerbaijan on contract areas of Shafag-Asiman block and shallow water area around the Absheron Peninsula in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea, Trend reports referring to consolidated financial statement of SOFAZ’s operating profit.
According to the statement, revenues to SOFAZ from payments in shallow water field around the Absheron Peninsula amounted to 1.09 million manat ($640,000), and from payments of the Shafag-Asiman field stood at 3.6 million manat ($2.12 million).
The Shafag-Asiman block lies some 125 kilometers (78 miles) to the South-East of Baku. It covers an area of some 1,100 square kilometers and has never been explored before. It is located in a deepwater section of about 650-800 meters with reservoir depth of about 7,000 meters.
The State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan was established in 1999. During that period, its assets amounted to $271 million.
According to the regulation on SOFAZ, its funds can be used for the construction and reconstruction of strategically important infrastructure facilities, as well as for solving important national problems.
The main objectives of SOFAZ are the accumulation of funds and the placement of the Fund’s assets abroad in order to mitigate the negative impact on the economy, the accumulation of funds for future generations and the support to the current socio-economic processes in the country.
(1 USD = 1.7 manat on July 11)
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