BAKU, Azerbaijan, Aug. 11
Trend:
The interest of foreign investors in the oil and gas industry, in Azerbaijan’s oil and gas potential is showing no sign of abating, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said in an interview to Azerbaijan Television following a ceremony at Baku Deep Water Jackets Plant named after Heydar Aliyev to send a jacket of Garabakh field offshore, Trend reports.
“This is a very important event. Offshore work on the Garabagh field begins today. This is a very important stage in the development of the field. This giant facility was built by Azerbaijani specialists in our country and is sailing away today. I am sure that the topsides of the platform will be built on time as well and we will begin full-field development of the Garabagh field,” President Ilham Aliyev said.
Azerbaijani president noted that as a result of the implementation of Heydar Aliyev's oil strategy in the 1990s, a production sharing agreement was signed.
“Three wells were drilled in this field in the 1990s. However, our foreign partners did not believe in the viability of the Garabagh field, the contract was terminated and the Garabagh field was abandoned. However, our experts were convinced that this field had great potential and life has proved them right. The fourth well drilled this year proved productive and the field was thus fully discovered. I should also say that this is the first oil field to be discovered in Azerbaijan in the period of independence because the Azeri, Chirag and Gunashli fields were discovered in Soviet times. Shah Deniz and Absheron are gas condensate fields. So this is the first oil field, and this giant jacket is the biggest jacket ever built in the Caspian Sea. Therefore, we can talk about the significance of this project for a long time,” the head of state said.
Azerbaijani president noted that of course, this is a result of our successful policy because even though foreign oil companies have been making major investments in Azerbaijan since 1994, the interest of foreign investors in the oil and gas industry, in Azerbaijan’s oil and gas potential is showing no sign of abating. In fact, it is still growing.
“I am confident that Garabagh and other fields will be successfully operated and bring great benefits to our country in the coming years,” the Azerbaijani president said.