BAKU, Azerbaijan, Aug.21
By Sadraddin Aghjayev – Trend:
The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) said this week that JP Morgan and the London branch of Citibank have allocated a $1.3 billion loan in order to provide refinancing of SOCAR Turkey, a subsidiary of SOCAR, under its guarantee, Trend reports.
According to SOCAR, funds attracted from the world's leading banks and financial institutions for a period of five years and with an interest rate of 3.45 percent per annum are assessed in global financial circles as a manifestation of confidence in the healthy financial structure and strong positions of SOCAR and SOCAR Turkey.
Besides, the company noted this week that the maximum production potential of the Umid-1 platform at Azerbaijan’s Umid gas and condensate field has increased to 6.7 million cubic meters of gas and 950 tons of condensate.
The increase was achieved as a result of commissioning well #18 with record figures.
The reserves of Umid field are estimated at 200 million cubic meters as a minimum.
In the outgoing week, it was also reported that Equinor continues to work with SOCAR to progress and mature the Karabagh project, and this includes detailing a possible development solution. A joint venture for the Karabagh field has been established and Equinor and SOCAR each have a 50 percent share.
Meanwhile, Maire Tecnimont (Italy) almost completed the production and supply of materials for SOCAR (98.2 percent), while the progress of construction and pre-commissioning activities made up 75.5 percent. The total advancement of the project is 89.8 percent. The Provisional Acceptance Certificate (PAC) is expected to be issued by December 31, 2022, in accordance with the Settlement and Amendment Deed signed on December 11, 2020.
The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) said this week that Azerbaijan’s renewable energy capacity stood at 1,291 MW in 2020, remaining unchanged from 2019.
According to IRENA, the country pays special attention to the implementation of pilot projects for the construction of a wind power plant with a capacity of 240 megawatts and a solar power plant with a capacity of 200 megawatts in accordance with the agreements signed with ACWA Power and Masdar (UAE) on January 9, 2021.
On Aug.19, it was reported that a stable economy, favorable investment climate and significant successes of Azerbaijan in business development have attracted the world's largest investors ready to participate in the implementation of promising megaprojects in the field of renewable energy sources (RES)to the country.
As to date, 12 large companies are involved in the energy sector of Azerbaijan. These are BP (UK), Masdar (UAE), ACWA Power (Saudi Arabia), Total Eren (France), Equinor (Norway), Quadran International (France), Tekfen Insaat (Turkey) , Al-Matub (UAE), Mitsui & Co (Japan), Lucia Holding (France), Ansalgo Energia (Italy) and Avelar Solar Technology (Russia).
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