SOCAR seeks 30-percent rise in gas output

Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR plans to increase the volume of gas output from the fields developed by the company independently.

SOCAR’s Vice-President for field development, Yashar Latifov told Natural Gas World that the company will increase production by 31 percent up to 10 billion cubic meters per year by 2020.

He mentioned that gas output stood at 6.87 bcm in 2015, and now it is planned to increase volumes significantly.

“SOCAR is developing Guneshli oil field’s gas layer, as well as BullaDeniz and Umid gas fields. Total commercial gas output of the country is expected to reach 36 bcm in 2020. BP-led Shah Deniz Stage 1 and 2 would produce 26 bcm, while SOCAR’s own projects would produce 10 bcm,” he said.

The major part of oil and gas produced in Azerbaijan, accounts for ACG block of oil and gas fields and Shah Deniz gas and condensate field developed by SOCAR jointly with foreign partners.

Bulla Deniz is estimated to contain 17 bcm of natural gas. SOCAR has been working on the field since 1975. The field currently has 15 operational wells.

Azerbaijan discovered giant Umid Gas-Condensate field in November 2010. Preliminary estimates proves that the Umid Structure has hydrocarbon reserves of 200 bcm of natural gas and 40 million tonnes of condensate.

Moreover, Azerbaijan also plans to add 5 bcm of gas annually to the output level in late 2021 from Absheron gas field.

First vice-president of SOCAR, Khoshbakht Yusifzade earlier said the first volumes of gas from the Absheron gas condensate field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea will be extracted in 2019, while preliminary estimates of reserves at the field stand at 350 billion cubic meters of gas (bcm) and some 45 million tons of gas condensate.

SOCAR produced 4.22 billion cubic meters of gas from the country’s offshore and onshore fields using its own funds in January-August 2016, as compared to 5.54 billion cubic meters in the same period in 2015.