Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 17
By Aygun Badalova, Anakhanum Khidayatova - Trend:
Azerbaijan is the country with good business opportunities, Zainal Abidin Zainudin, the Malaysian Petronas country head for operations in Azerbaijan told Trend.
"The cooperation with Azerbaijan is at a very good level," Zainudin said adding that the company gets support from the country's government.
"Azerbaijan has good business opportunities for us, and the company intends to continue doing business in the country," he added.
In early September, the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) and Petronas company have signed an addendum to the memorandum of understanding.
The signing ceremony took place during the visit of a delegation led by the president and chief executive officer of Petronas company Datuk Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin in Baku, Sept.3.
Zainudin also noted that the company may be interested in cooperating with SOCAR in other fields.
Currently, Petronas has a 15.5 percent share in Azerbaijani Shah Deniz gas field development project and the South Caucasus gas pipeline. It also owns a 12.4 percent stake in the Azerbaijan Gas Supply Company.
Petronas redeemed these shares from Norwegian Statoil which also announced its decision to sell a 20 percent stake in the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), estimated at about $ 400 million.
Earlier, some media outlets reported about Petronas's intention to acquire Norwegian Statoil's share in TAP.
However, according to SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev, Petronas has not appealed to the company regarding the acquisition of a share in TAP.
"Petronas has not officially informed of its desire to participate in TAP. No one held the negotiations with SOCAR in this regard," Abdullayev told reporters Sept. 17.
Aygun Badalova is Trend Agency's staff journalist, follow her on Twitter:@AygunBadalova