BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 23
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
Norway’s Equinor company and Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR are working on maturing the plans for Karabagh oil field, Equinor told Trend.
“There is no update at this time on the Karabagh project. We continue working with SOCAR on maturing the plans,” said the company.
SOCAR and Equinor have confirmed a discovery of Karabakh field located 120 kilometers offshore, east of Baku, in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea. Its oil reserves estimated more than 60 million tons.
The Karabakh prospective structure was identified in 1959 as a result of seismic surveys. It was specified in 1984 and its oil and gas reserves were confirmed in 1997-1998 through exploration drilling.
In May 2018, SOCAR Karabagh and Equinor signed a Risk Service Agreement related to development of Karabagh Oil Field in the Azerbaijan Sector of Caspian Sea. According to the agreement, they hold equal shares.
Equinor said that currently there is no operational activity by the company in Azerbaijan beyond what is done on the partner-operated Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) fields.
As for the steps taken to mitigate the adverse effect of COVID-19 on Equinor’s operations, the company said it has already implemented significant measures to deal with the effects of the coronavirus, including reducing capital expenditure, reducing and delaying non-critical tasks at fields and plants, implemented procedures for working from home and taken strict travel restrictions and quarantine measures.
“There will be uncertainty and volatility going forward, and Equinor will continuously evaluate measures to respond. Keeping production going and ensuring that we can deliver oil and gas to our customers have high priority,” said the company.
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