BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. SOCAR Trading plans to lift its first oil cargo this year from the Baleine oil and gas field in Côte d'Ivoire, Head of Global Business Development at SOCAR Trading Togrul Kocharli told Trend on Friday on the sidelines of the second Azerbaijan International Investment Forum in Baku.
He said the cargo would consist of oil produced at the field, which is jointly owned by several partners.
“There are four shareholders in the field — Vitol, Petroci, SOCAR and Eni, which sold its stake to us. Which vessel will be taken by Vitol and which by SOCAR is a technical matter, and I cannot provide the exact details,” Kocharli said.
According to him, SOCAR could lift its first oil cargo from the field later this year.
“Considering that the field produces around 100,000 barrels of oil per day, 10 percent of this would amount to around 10,000 barrels per day. At this volume, it would take approximately 70 days to fill a vessel. So, our own oil cargo could be formed in about two months,” he said.
Kocharli added that since several parties are involved in the production and cargo allocation process, the specific schedule for shipments would depend on technical arrangements.
The second Azerbaijan International Investment Forum is currently being held in Baku. The two-day forum is organized by Azerbaijan's Ministry of Economy and the Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Agency (AZPROMO), under the ministry, in strategic partnership with The European House – Ambrosetti.
The forum's plenary and panel sessions address strategic topics including the Middle Corridor, energy and the green transition, artificial intelligence and digital transformation, infrastructure, industry and free economic zones, critical raw materials, agribusiness, financial cooperation, small and medium-sized business development, tourism, and investment in real estate and human capital.
