Baku, Azerbaijan, May 26
By Maksim Tsurkov – Trend:
Azerbaijani state oil company SOCAR signed a new contract with Bahar Energy Operating Company to buy natural gas from the Bahar field, a source in Azerbaijan’s oil and gas market told Trend.
The initial agreement on the sale of gas from the Bahar field expired on Oct. 1, 2015, according to the source.
“After that, the sale of natural gas from the Bahar field was carried out on a monthly basis under the terms of the original agreement, and simultaneously talks were held with SOCAR to revise the contract,” the source said.
“Due to the decrease in oil prices, SOCAR insisted on reducing prices for the natural gas it buys for domestic consumption. On March 3, 2017, a new five-year contract was signed that determines a fixed price of $95 per 1,000 cubic meters of natural gas. The previous price was $140 per 1,000 cubic meters.”
“Under the terms of the previous agreement, SOCAR was buying gas only from the Bahar field. Under the new contract, SOCAR will also buy gas from gas zones of the Gum Deniz oil field and other new deposits, to be discovered on the contract area,” the source added.
A contract for exploration, rehabilitation, development and extraction at the Bahar-Gum Deniz block was signed between SOCAR and Bahar Energy in 2009.
