He said that there are all investment conditions in this region, therefore LUKOIL intends to expand its presence in Azerbaijan.

He noted that the company is interested in participating in such projects as “Umid-Babek” and “Absheron” in Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR and Total signed a framework agreement in 2016 on the main contractual and commercial principles regulating the first phase of development of the Absheron field.

The first phase of the field’s development envisaged drilling one well at a sea depth of 450 meters. The production will stand at 1.5 billion cubic meters of gas and 700,000 tons of condensate per year and these volumes will be used in Azerbaijan’s domestic market. It is planned to produce up to 4 billion cubic meters of gas at the second stage.

Absheron’s reserves are estimated at 326 billion cubic meters of gas and 108 million tons of condensate, according to estimations of the Total specialists.

According to SOCAR’s data and the results of drilling of the first exploration well, the field has over 200 billion cubic meters of gas and 40 million tons of condensate.

The Umid field is located 75 kilometers from Baku.

The reserves of the Babek structure may stand at 400 billion cubic meters of gas and 80 million tons of condensate, according to preliminary data.

The 13th meeting of the OPEC/non-OPEC Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) was held in Baku March 18. A day before the JMMC meeting, Baku hosted the 27th meeting of the Joint Technical Commission.

The meeting participants discussed the current state of the oil market, existing problems and other issues.

The event then featured a presentation on the pace of oil market development, and the report of the Joint Technical Commission on production figures for February.

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