BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 27
By Leman Zeynalova - Trend:
Azerbaijan’s gas production will increase significantly by 2021 and reach its peak production in 2023. The peak production period will be from 2022-2023 to 2028-2029, when production will reach almost 50 bcm/year from around 30 bcm in 2018, Trend reports with reference to the the book titled “The Southern Gas Corridor and its importance for South-East Europe”.
“The fields that are included in the overall gas production projections are: producing (SD 1 & 2, fields under Azneft production, ACG associated gas and Umid); under development based on PSA or JV (Absheron, Garabagh); or where a PSA has been concluded, there is an existing consortium and partners have a firm intention to develop the fields in the mid-to-long-run (Absheron Stage 2, Shafag-Asiman),” reads the book.
The so-called technical resources (Nakhchivan, ZafarMashal, Inam, Araz-Alov-Sharg, Kapaz/Sardar) were not included as, although these structures have been discovered and some preliminary 3D seismic data exists, there is no intention and plans from SOCAR and IOCs to invest in and develop the blocks and no legal arrangements are in place.
The development of this group of structures will largely depend on political decision, technical (availability of drilling rigs), and commercial (the cost of gas production and marketing arrangements) factors.
For that reason, any assumptions on possible gas production quantities and timing of production will be only indicative.
The country’s gas demand is projected to be up to 11 bcm/year in the low case scenario, up to 12 bcm in the base case and up to 13 bcm in the high case scenario by 2025, the peak production year in Azerbaijan.
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