Turkey’s TPAO may expand cooperation with SOCAR to Karabakh field – Bayraktar

Turkey’s state oil company TPAO and Azerbaijan’s SOCAR are discussing expanding their upstream cooperation to include the Karabakh oil and gas field in Azerbaijan’s sector of the Caspian Sea, Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said on Friday.

“We are discussing exploration projects that SOCAR and Türkiye Petrolleri will jointly pursue both in Turkey and Azerbaijan — starting with Shafag-Asiman last year and, hopefully, continuing with Karabakh — as well as projects they could undertake jointly in third countries,” Bayraktar told the Azerbaijan-Turkey Energy Forum in Baku.

He did not say whether the discussions involved TPAO acquiring a stake in Karabakh or what size stake could be under consideration.

SOCAR currently holds a 65% interest in Karabakh, while BP owns 35% and operates the project.

Last year, SOCAR, BP and TPAO agreed for the Turkish company to acquire a 30% stake in the Shafag-Asiman exploration project.

Karabakh is located around 120 km east of Baku. Its recoverable reserves have been estimated at around 21 million tonnes of oil and 13 billion cubic metres of gas.
 

N.Tebrizli