Azerbaijan, Baku / Trend / Chevron is poised to start negotiations with Turkmenistan next week over the development of the disputed Kyapaz-Serdar oil and gas field, one of the last great prizes in that area of the Caspian Sea, Energy Intelligence Group writes..
"Chevron is honored to have been asked by the government of Turkmenistan to prepare a proposal for the development of the Serdar field in the Caspian Sea," Chevron spokesman Michael Barrett told Nefte Compass. "Chevron hopes that our wide-ranging success in developing offshore hydrocarbon resources, our 15 years of regional experience and our overall financial and technical capability will enable us to move forward in partnership with the Turkmenistan government."
The head of Chevron's Russian subsidiary, Chevron Neftegaz, Ian MacDonald, who has led the talks with Turkmenistan, visited Baku last week for talks with the head of Azeri state oil company Socar, Rovnag Abdullayev.
Chevron's recent talks in Baku with Socar may also have covered the transit issues for the US company's growing production in Kazakhstan.
The presence of MacDonald -- who used to head up CPC -- made analysts think that Chevron is still looking for an alternative export route for its output from the Tengiz field in Kazakhstan, as a lot of issues remain to be resolved before plans are agreed to expand CPC to 1.35 million barrels per day from the current 620,000 b/d.