Baku, Azerbaijan, May 22
By Sara Israfilbayova - Trend:
ConocoPhillips Exploration is closing its branch in Azerbaijan, Trend reports on May 22 with reference to a source involved in the company’s projects in the country.
The company changed its strategy and decided to concentrate on the US market, according to the source. In particular, it has a solid share in the development of shale oil and gas in the US, and in fact, the ConocoPhillips office in Baku was inactive.
Since 2017, the company has not been active in Azerbaijan; it has sold its assets and completed research onshore, which was conducted jointly with Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR, the source noted.
ConocoPhillips conducted a study of the potential of the Mesozoic sediments in a significant land area of Azerbaijan on the basis of an agreement with SOCAR signed in 2011. After the preparation and presentation of the final report to the Azerbaijani partner, the US company decided it inexpedient to continue the work.
ConocoPhillips was a participant in an exploration project to study the Zafar-Mashal structure in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea, but the project was closed after drilling the first exploratory well, which did not reveal commercial reserves of oil and gas.
The company also participated in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline with a 2.5 percent share, but in 2015 sold its share to the British company CIECO. The main reason was the sale of a share in the development of the giant Kashagan field in the Kazakh sector of the Caspian Sea, from which the company planned to send oil to the west through the BTC.
ConocoPhilips is one of the biggest US oil companies. The company was established in 2002 through the merger of Conoco and Phillips Petroleum.
