BAKU, Azerbaijan, Oct.12
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
P&O Maritime Logistics lists services in Azerbaijan’s oil & gas sphere
In Azerbaijan, P&O Maritime Logistics (POML) owns and operates 21 vessels to provide marine and logistics services to International Oil Companies (IOCs) and international Engineering, Procurement, Installation and Commissioning (EPIC) providers, the company told Trend.
POML said it is a key partner in supporting the oil and gas industry in Azerbaijan and the construction of new international pipeline infrastructure.
“Services include logistics support, anchor handling, towing, emergency response and subsea services. POML is cognizant of the limitations associated with the importation of specialist vessels and therefore has a strong track record of vessel modification to fit the necessary equipment for projects including subsea, Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV), well stimulation, seismic support and environmental monitoring.
P&O Maritime Logistics (POML) Caspian has been at the forefront of EDD, extended drydocking, taking the drydocking period from 5 to 7.5 years.
This is a first for the offshore industry and commits a longer period of continuity for the client and more efficient proposition for the vessel owner and associated stakeholders.
“Business is progressing very well for POML in Azerbaijan. We have been in business in Baku for 28 years and have grown with the country and the oil and gas industry since then. It has been interesting to see how things have changed since 1992, and through the Topaz merger with P&O Maritime we have created synergies which allow us to grow and build further scale.
“What has not changed is our commitment to Azerbaijan and our numerous clients. We have worked hard to be an employer of choice for Azerbaijan, and today over 98.5 percent of our team in the country are Azerbaijani citizens. P&OML employs more than 600 team members ashore and at sea, with many more of our colleagues that have taken on senior roles in other companies in Azerbaijan and abroad.
“POML continues to provide high quality and reliable operations for logistics, emergency response, towing, anchor handling and subsea requirements expected in support of our clients. POML provides a blue-chip international support within Caspian setting the bar for operational excellence and international safety standards. POML Caspian are humble but proud at the forefront of providing reliable and safe service to the region. Our Azerbaijan operations currently sit at 18,870,408 Lost time Injury (LTI) free, 408 which equates to 4537 LTI free days,” the company said.
P&O Maritime Logistics (POML) has been involved in many projects over the years with many of its clients, including Absheron, Karabagh, Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli, and Shah Deniz, to name a few.
“Many of these continue to expand today, and the development of new fields continues. Presently POML are working on several pipe-lay campaigns offshore, while at the same time supporting exploration and drilling, as well as oil and gas production.
“BUE Caspian operates a fleet of 21 vessels in Azerbaijan divided in Anchor Handling Tug Supply (AHTS), Platform Supply Vessels (PSV), Emergency Response and Rescue Vessels (ERRV) and Multipurpose Supply Vessels (MPSV).
“BUE Caspian continues to operate in many oil and gas fields in Azerbaijan. These include:
- Azeri-Chirag-Deepwater Gunashli (ACG) oil field, the Shah Deniz (SD) gas and condensate field
- Absheron field
- Karabakh Field POML is taking part in the pipe lay projects in support of IOCs and EPIC contractors,” the company said.
Azerbaijan's diesel fuel production up
About 1.49 million tons of diesel fuel were produced in Azerbaijan from January through August 2020, which is 3 percent less compared to the same period of 2019, Trend reports citing the Azerbaijani State Statistical Committee's report.
At the same time, the country produced 337,400 tons of kerosene, an annual decrease of 16.9 percent.
The stock of the finished kerosene products as of September 1 made up 57,500 tons, and of the diesel fuel - 142,500 tons.
During the past eight months of this year, the number of petrochemical products produced in Azerbaijan reached 2.1 billion manat ($1.23 billion), showing a growth of 2.2 percent year on year.
Azerbaijan Energy Regulatory Agency signs contract with leading ICT company
The Azerbaijan Energy Regulatory Agency (AREA) of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Energy and one of the leading ICT companies in the South Caucasus and Central Asia - BestComp Group, signed a contract worth 77,900 manat ($45,823), Trend reports citing the ‘Electronic Procurement’ (e-procurement) portal.
The winner of the tender announced by the Energy Regulatory Agency for the purchase of VPN licenses has been determined.
By the decision of the tender commission, BestComp Group was selected as the winner of the tender, the portal said.
EIA reveals forecasts for Azerbaijan’s oil output
Azerbaijan’s petroleum and other liquids production will stand at 0.71 million barrels per day in 2020, as compared to 0.78 million barrels per day in 2019, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its October Short-term Energy Outlook (STEO), Trend reports.
The country produced 0.77 million barrels per day, 0.70 million barrels per day and 0.67 million barrels in the first, second and third quarters of 2020, respectively.
The expected output for the fourth quarter is 0.70 million barrels per day.
EIA forecasts that petroleum and other liquids production in Azerbaijan will rise in 2021 to stand at 0.74 million barrels per day.
The expected production volume for the first and second quarters of 2021 is 0.72 million barrels per day and 0.74 million barrels per day, respectively and 0.75 million barrels per day for the third and fourth quarters each.
BP Azerbaijan: As of now, all our business operations in region continue as normal
As of now, all business operations of BP Azerbaijan in the region continue as normal, the company told Trend.
"We are deeply concerned about the recent expansion of military activities within the territory of Azerbaijan targeting civilian settlements and infrastructure. We are especially worried about yesterday’s reports of a missile attack which was intercepted and destroyed by Azerbaijan’s air defence systems in the vicinity of BTC and SCP export pipelines. While the security of all assets which bp operates on behalf of the Azerbaijan government and our partners is provided by the Azerbaijani government we continue to work closely with the relevant authorities in an effort to take necessary measures to provide the protection of our personnel, operations and assets," said BP Azerbaijan.
"Once again, we express our deep concern about the military attacks against civilian settlements and infrastructure and hope the conflict will soon find a just resolution within the territorial integrity and internationally recognized sovereign territories of Azerbaijan."
Albania, Italy to grant operating permits for TAP soon
Just days ago, Greece’s energy ministry approved the operation of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline’s Greek segment, running from Evros to Rodopi, Xanthi, Kavala, Drama, Serres, Thessaloniki, Kilkis, Pella, Imathia, Florina, Kozani and Kastroria, Trend reports citing Greek energy news portal.
Authorities of the project’s two other host nations, Albania and Italy, will soon grant their respective operating permits, sources informed.
The project’s commercial launch is expected to take place close to the final quarter this year, the energy ministry has announced.
The Greek and Italian gas grid operators, DESFA and Snam, respectively, will need to prepare their national grids so that natural gas quantities can reach consumers via TAP, sources added.
Belarus, Azerbaijan in talks over further oil supplies
Another tanker of Azerbaijani oil for Belarusian Mozyr oil refinery has arrived in Ukraine’s Yuzhne port and started unloading, said spokesperson for Belarusian State Concern for Oil and Chemistry (Belneftekhim Concern) Alexander Tishchenko, Trend reports citing Belarusian media.
Tishchenko noted that the tanker arrived on Oct.6, adding that it will reach Mozyr refinery in the second half of October.
He went on to add that work is underway with Azerbaijani partners for further oil supplies to Belarus.
Azerbaijani Energy Ministry discloses daily volume of oil produced in September
The daily oil production (together with condensate) amounted to 653,500 barrels in Azerbaijan in September 2020, Trend reports referring to the Azerbaijani Ministry of Energy.
Some 585,000 barrels of this volume accounted for crude oil, 68,500 barrels - condensate.
Some 460,000 barrels of crude oil accounted for the share of the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) block of fields, 125,000 barrels – for the share of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan SOCAR.
"The daily production of crude oil was reduced up to 461,000 barrels per day, while the share of SOCAR – up to 126,000 barrels to fulfill obligations in October 2018," the statement said.
Following the "Declaration of Cooperation", in October 2018, Azerbaijan, with daily crude oil production volume reaching 718,000 barrels, had to maintain crude oil production volume from August through December 2020 at the level of 587,000 barrels per day, reducing the production of crude oil by 131,000 barrels.
"To fulfill obligations, the daily production of crude oil in October 2018 was reduced by 567,000 barrels per day (a decrease by 196,000), the share of SOCAR - by 151,000 barrels (a decrease by 25,000)," the statement said.
Construction of TAP’s part in Albania to be supported by European Commission
The construction of the Fier-Vlora gas pipeline, part of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) in Albania, will be supported by the European Commission’s Economic and Investment Plan, which was adopted 6 October, Trend reports.
The plan envisages supporting:
in transport, the Blue highway along the Adriatic coast;
the Mediterranean Rail Corridor;
on energy the rehabilitation of the Fierza Hydro Power Plant, the advancement of the construction of the Skavica Hydro Power Plant and as part of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline, the construction of the Fier-Vlora gas pipeline, and the Ionian-Adriatic pipeline along the coast;
the establishment of integrated regional waste management systems, going hand-in-hand with the closure of non-compliant landfills; in digital a Broadband Infrastructure Development scheme.
Turkish BOTAS discloses volume of oil shipment from Ceyhan terminal
Turkish BOTAS International Limited (BIL) has to date shipped nearly 3.526 billion barrels of oil from Ceyhan oil terminal, Trend reports referring to BIL.
The BIL data shows that 4,601 tankers with oil from Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) block of fields have been loaded from the terminal to date.
Some 220 tankers with ACG oil (around 166 million barrels of oil) were shipped from the Ceyhan oil terminal since the beginning of 2020.
Oil from the ACG block located in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian is transported via Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) to the world markets. BTC is operated by BOTAS International Limited.
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) crude oil pipeline was built for the safe, economic and environmentally friendly transportation of oil produced in the Caspian region through Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, and from there to the world markets.
SOCAR discloses volume of investments in Southern Gas Corridor
Southern Gas Corridor closed joint-stock company of Azerbaijan has to date invested around $10 billion in the Southern Gas Corridor projects using its revenues from the projects, authorized capital and borrowed funds, Ibrahim Ahmadov, deputy head of the Public Relations and Event Management Department at Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR, told Trend.
“From January 1 through September 30, 2020, the company spent about $102 million to finance its share in the Southern Gas Corridor projects,” he said.
Progress in Shah Deniz-2 project exceeds 95%
The progress in the second stage of development of Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz field, one of the largest gas condensate fields in the world, has exceeded 95 percent, Ibrahim Ahmadov, deputy head of the Public Relations and Event Management Department at Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR, told Trend.
“The launch of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) is planned by the end of the year. The expansion of the South Caucasus Pipeline and the construction of the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) have been fully completed,” he said.
Ukrtransnafta puts 15,000 tons of Azeri Light oil for auction
Ukrtransnafta joint-stock company of Ukraine has put 15,000 tons of Azeri Light oil from the Pivdenni oil terminal for auction, Trend reports citing enkorr.
Bidding will take place on October 8 at the Ukrainian Energy Exchange (UEB).
The offer is divided into two lots of 10,000 tons and 5,000 tons of crude oil. The resource delivery time is October 20-30, 2020.
SOCAR says no changes in schedule for TAP commissioning so far
The planned commissioning of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) has not been affected by the escalation of the armed conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh and the targeting of Azerbaijani pipeline infrastructure by Armenian forces on Oct. 6, Ibrahim Ahmadov, deputy head of the Public Relations and Event Management Department at Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR, told S&P Global Platts, Trend reports.
"We have modeled possible scenarios and taken all necessary precautions in order to prevent or reduce damage in case of another attack," he said.
"Neither the export volume nor the schedule for TAP commissioning has changed so far," Ahmadov noted.
Azerbaijan’s liquids supply to decline by 0.3 mb/d
Azerbaijan’s liquids supply is expected to drop by 0.3 million barrels per day (mb/d) by 2045, as compared to 2019, Trend reports with reference to OPEC’s World Oil Outlook (WOO) 2020.
In the medium term, OPEC’s report shows that as of 2020, Azerbaijan’s liquids supply will stand at 0.7 mb/d and this trend will continue every year until 2025.
In the long term, OPEC expects the country’s liquids production to be equal to 0.7 mb/d as of 2030, then to go down to 0.6 mb/d in 2035 and 2040 each and stand at 0.5 mb/d in 2045.
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