BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 26. The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) is focusing on reducing methane emissions and addressing abandoned wells as part of its decarbonization strategy, SOCAR Deputy Vice President for Energy Transition, Environment and Decarbonization Hikmet Abdullayev said on Saturday during the 2nd Azerbaijan International Investment Forum in Baku, Trend's correspondent reports from the event.
According to him, one of SOCAR's key areas of work is the implementation of the company's decarbonization strategy announced at COP28.
"We have a number of corporate targets and public commitments that we have undertaken, and we have also joined several international initiatives. This has become one of the company's main areas of work. One of the first areas SOCAR focused on was reducing methane emissions. We have carried out a large number of measurements in recent years, as well as extensive analysis of the methane emissions indicators of our assets. We involved international experts to support this process," he said.
Abdullayev noted that international experts were involved at different stages, including conducting facility-level measurements, analyzing collected data and developing conclusions based on the results.
"At the same time, we created conditions, including at the contractual level, to train specialists and build capacity within SOCAR as part of this project. We used specialized SOCAR subsidiaries and continue to develop this capacity," he said.
According to him, the company's goal is to conduct such measurements and analyses independently and develop the necessary expertise in Azerbaijan.
"We found that the country's capacity in this area is currently limited. However, with the introduction of new EU methane regulations, demand for such services is growing, as this is becoming a compliance requirement. Therefore, the relevant infrastructure needs to be developed," Abdullayev said.
He added that another area of SOCAR's work is the reassessment and rehabilitation of abandoned wells that are no longer in operation.
"SOCAR inherited a large number of such abandoned wells from the Soviet period. There are thousands of them, both onshore and offshore. Many infrastructure elements have been damaged, as decades have passed since their construction, and some facilities have collapsed. This project was announced as part of Baku Climate Week. Its implementation is a complex task, as some wells are surrounded by damaged subsea infrastructure, significantly limiting access. Other wells are relatively easier to access, and we are already carrying out rehabilitation work on them. The process includes several stages: assessment, data collection, obtaining permits, and then monitoring to verify the results of the work," he said.
Abdullayev noted that SOCAR engages international experts for hard-to-reach wells to obtain the necessary expertise and develop solutions for specific sites.
"Our approach to involving international experts in such projects is quite simple. We engage them on the condition that our local teams and project participants receive training as the work progresses. The idea is that at a certain point we will be able to implement these projects independently," he said.
