BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. Joint Operating Company of Absheron Petroleum (JOCAP), a partnership between SOCAR Absheron and TotalEnergies EP Absheron B.V., is considering a new project to study the transfer of water from the Caspian Sea to aquifers in the coming months, JOCAP Managing Director Sylvain Petiet told Trend at the SPE Caspian Technical Conference 2025 in Baku.
"The main factors behind the Caspian Sea’s negative water balance are climate change, evaporation, and excessive water use from the Volga. Another important aspect is understanding how this interacts with the coastal zone. All these aquifers are essentially on land," he said.
Petiet noted that French universities collaborating with the French-Azerbaijani University (UFAZ) in Azerbaijan have proposed mapping the water, its volumes, and movements to understand whether aquifers impact the Caspian Sea level.
"Currently, the project is not financed and is not part of our main operations. It is an additional initiative that requires the involvement of all partners," emphasized the JOCAP managing director.
He also highlighted discussions on local content, an important factor for Azerbaijan, and possible few tweaks in the project budget.
"We are at the discussion stage, working to address concerns and make adjustments to gain agreement. I hope we can launch the water transfer study from the Caspian Sea to aquifers in the next few months," Petiet added.
JOCAP, the Joint Operating Company of Absheron Petroleum, operates the Absheron offshore block in the Caspian Sea, focusing on gas and condensate production for Azerbaijan's domestic market. JOCAP's main activity involves managing exploration and production under a production sharing agreement, with the current project centered on drilling a well to connect existing facilities for gas delivery.
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