Azernews.Az

By Fatma Babayeva

Natural resource rich Azerbaijan decided to purchase gas from neighboring Russia in order to maintain oil production.

Azerbaijan's state-owned energy company SOCAR submitted a proposal to Russian Gazprom to purchase from 3 to 5 billion cubic meters of gas a year, Rovnag Abdullayev, SOCAR’s President told on May 11.

SOCAR is currently waiting for Gazprom’s decision, Abdullayev said, adding that there is no progress in talks with the Russian side at the moment.

He further noted that Azerbaijan’s natural gas is primarily needed for injection into reservoirs at the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli block of oil and gas fields on the Azerbaijani section of the Caspian Sea, that's to say, to maintain a stable oil production.

The gas purchase will enable SOCAR to increase the volume of its injection into reservoirs, as well as, to test the capacity of gas storage facilities, said Abdullayev. Currently, their capacity amounts to about 3.5 billion cubic meters, but it is possible to increase it to more than 5 billion cubic meters, he added.

The gas swap with Gazprom will enable Azerbaijan to ensure the gas supply to southern regions of Russia and to test its own gas storage facilities in Kalmaz and Garadagh.

At the present, Gazprom has a contract for purchasing gas from Azerbaijan. This contract provides possibility to suspend and resume the gas supply any time.

Gazprom supplies 2 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year to Azerbaijan since September 2015 in accordance with the five-year contract which offers possibility of extension.

SOCAR is involved in exploring oil and gas fields, producing, processing, and transporting oil, gas, and gas condensate, marketing petroleum and petrochemical products in domestic and international markets, as well as, supplying natural gas to industry and the public in Azerbaijan.

Three production divisions, one oil refinery and one gas processing plant, a deep water platform fabrication yard, two trusts, one institution, and 23 subdivisions are operating as corporate entities under SOCAR.

It has representative offices in Georgia, Turkey, Romania, Austria, Switzerland, Kazakhstan, Great Britain, Iran, Germany and Ukraine, as well as, trading companies in Switzerland, Singapore, Vietnam, Nigeria, and other countries.

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Fatma Babayeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Fatma_Babayeva

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