Prospects for SOCAR Coop. in Caspian Joint Projects

Azerbaijan oil officials have expressed interest in collaborating with Khazar Exploration and Production Company (KEPCO) to develop Sardar-e-Jangal gas field in the Caspian Sea off  Gilan Province, KEPCO's managing director said.

"Collaboration with Azerbaijan to develop Caspian oil and gas reservoirs is on the agenda and talks are being held between the two sides," Mohsen Delaviz was quoted as saying by ILNA on Monday.

According to the official, several meetings have been held between KEPCO representatives and the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic, or SOCAR, since Tehran and world powers reached a landmark deal in 2015 that led to the lifting of international curbs against the country in the beginning of last year.

Pointing to a preliminary agreement signed between SOCAR and the National Iranian Oil Company in 2015, the official said there is plenty of scope for cooperation in the energy sector between the two Caspian neighbors to help boost the two nation's economic development.  

According to NIOC chief Ali Kardor, Tehran is eager to develop offshore oil and gas fields in the Caspian Sea in collaboration with foreign majors.

"To expand oil and gas development in the Caspian region, we need to reach out to international companies for funds, technology and partnership," Kardor said in a recent statement, adding that KEPCO has been given new impetus to open investment talks with international oil and gas majors

--- Talks With Multinationals

In addition to Azerbaijan, British, Dutch and Norwegian oil majors have also submitted proposals for joint ventures with KEPCO—a subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company—to tap into the rich oil and gas resources of the Caspian Sea, Delaviz noted, adding that a decision will be made soon.

"It is likely that the Sardar-e-Jangal field will be developed under the new Iran Petroleum Contract (IPC) model."

In a conference last year, Iran introduced three exploratory blocks in the Caspian region, known as 24, 26 and 29 as well as Sardar-e-Jangal, as part of its new oil and gas contracts to attract foreign investment.

Sardar-e-Jangal field contains an estimated 1.4 trillion cubic meters of natural gas in-place and some 500 million barrels of recoverable crude.

Despite making significant headways in exploiting oil and gas resources in the south, energy development in Iran's northern regions have been unimpressive in the past several years.

According to the US Energy Information Association, between 2000 and 2012, Turkmenistan produced more than 70 billion cubic meters of natural gas from the Caspian basin, followed by Russia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. Iran's production has been zero.

The Caspian region is one of the oldest oil-producing areas in the world and is an increasingly important source of global energy production. It holds an estimated 48 billion barrels of oil and more than 8 trillion cubic meters of natural gas in proven and probable reserves.