Azernews.Az

BAKU – A huge gas field has been discovered in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea. The deposit, found at the Umid prospective structure, holds 200 billion cubic meters of gas and is the second largest field after the offshore Shahdaniz field in Azerbaijan’s post-independence history, president of Azerbaijan’s state energy firm SOCAR, Rovnag Abdullayev, said Wednesday.

Abdullayev said an exploration well is being drilled at the field at the depth of 6,500 meters. Exploration work is being carried out on account of SOCAR. Umid reserves are estimated at a total of $30-40 billion, considering current gas prices in the market.

The Azerbaijani government is keen on finalizing exploration at the new find. President Ilham Aliyev said at a cabinet meeting on this year’s nine-month socio-economic results that he was expecting good news from the Umid deposit.

"Preliminary reports are promising," the president said. "We are looking forward to seeing major results at Umid as well. This will further increase Azerbaijan’s gas potential."

On this occasion, President Aliyev met SOCAR’s officials on Wednesday. The president said investments made in offshore fields were of particular importance, adding that SOCAR’s exploration on the Umid field was another success of Azerbaijan.

"It once again proves that Azerbaijan is not only an oil, but also a gas-rich country."

SOCAR President Abdullayev and First Vice President Khoshbakht Yusifzada said the field, located 70 km from Baku, had "much more gas reserves than it is forecast".