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Azerbaijani president: Shahdeniz will operate at least 100 years from now

08 November 2017 14:46 (UTC +04:00)

A new contract was signed this year on extension of the Contract of the Century. This is a historic event. The contract was signed under better conditions by 2050. As a result of execution of this contract, $3.6 billion of bonus will be paid to Azerbaijan. SOCAR’s share increased to 25% from 11%. SOCAR will also have a function of operator and Azerbaijan will have 75% of profit oil by 2050, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said at the solemn ceremony on production of 2 billionth ton of oil in Baku.

“This proves that we have rich natural resources. I remember that there were powers trying to prevent us from constructing Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. There were campaigns against us. They issue was that as if the ecology will be disrupted. However, look, we created parks in polluted areas of Baku. We make more investments in improvement of ecology. However, they tried to prevent us giving this as an excuse”, he stressed.

The president noted that the second topic was related to oil reserves: “They said that Azerbaijan has not oil. There is no need for BTC. This will never justify itself. Look, we have been producing oil since 1997 jointly with the consortium. As I mentioned that the consortium has produced 460 million tonnes of oil from ACG alone. However, we have proved reserves more than this. Extension of the contract by 2050 shows that we have sufficient oil. The same issue was raised on gas. They said that Azerbaijan has not gas. However, Shahdeniz 2 is a reality. Our proved oil reserves make up 1.5 billion tonnes, forecast is 2 billion tonnes. Proved gas reserves are 2.6 trillion cubic meters, forecast – 3-4 trillion cubic meters. ACG development shows that we always demonstrate conservative figures. I remember that ACG’s reserves were estimated at 511 million tonnes when the Contract of the Century was signed in 1994. However, today’s estimations show that the reserves are at least more than twice. Because 462 million tonnes of 511 have already been extracted. Now, how many tonnes of oil will be extracted by 2050. Therefore, I am sure that our forecasts will be realized. Because we conservatively assess the reserves. ACG will operate at least till 2050. Shahdeniz will operate at least 100 years from now. We expect Absheron to produce gas in the future. Umid, Babek fields have perspectives. SOCAR will actively work in these fields from next year. Certain works are being carried out. Larger-scale works will be carried out”.