BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 7. This week, the fuel and energy complex (FEC) of Azerbaijan and the countries of the Caspian and Central Asian regions saw a lot of action, both on the global stage and in their own backyards, Trend reports.
In particular, it was reported that SOCAR has begun supplying gas to Croatia. A source informed Trend that the gas is transported to Croatia via Bulgaria and Serbia after passing via the Malkoclar/Stranja gas distribution hub on the Turkish-Bulgarian border. Thus, Croatia became the ninth nation to get gas from Azerbaijan, joining Türkiye, Georgia, Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Serbia, and Slovenia.
Additionally, this week it was reported that SOCAR is in talks to sell gas to Slovakia, Northern Macedonia, and Austria (exclusive to Trend).
Moreover, Trend was informed that on September 20 in Baku, in addition to celebrating the 30th anniversary of the oil contract for the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli block of Caspian fields (ACG), it is planned to sign a contract “Production Sharing Agreement” on the extraction of deep gas from this block.
SOCAR and US oilfield services company Halliburton on September 6 agreed on joint studies to reassess the residual hydrocarbon potential of the shallow-water part of the Guneshli field (on SOCAR's balance sheet).
Moreover, SOCAR plans to expand cooperation with Uzbekistan, and in addition to the agreement signed in Tashkent on geological exploration in Ustyurt (Uzbekistan), joint production of chemical reagents and oil and gas equipment may be organized in Uzbekistan ($8.1 million project), there are prospects for a JV with SOCAR Polymer to produce polypropylene and high-density polyethylene in the Khorezm Technopark, and Uzbekistan's participation in upstream projects in Azerbaijan is being studied.
STAR oil refinery, one of the companies of SOCAR Türkiye group, has been shut down for planned preventive maintenance (about two months) since September 5 and for the first time will carry out maintenance and modernization of all equipment at the facility.
Revenues from Azerbaijan's oil and gas sector are accumulated in the State Oil Fund (SOFAZ).
SOFAZ announced on September 3 that revenues from the development of the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) field block from January 2024 through September 1, 2024, amounted to $4.3 billion, compared to $4.7 billion for the same period in 2023, due to reduced exports and lower world oil prices.
SOFAZ's revenues from the sale of gas and condensate from the Shah Deniz field amounted to $364.465 million for eight months, compared to $1.183 billion for the same period in 2023. The decrease was due to the fall in European gas prices.
The delegation from SOFAZ discussed interagency cooperation in various fields, the development of the “International Sovereign Wealth Fund Forum,” and investment opportunities with China Investment Corporation on September 6.”
This week, specialists from the Azerbaijan Energy Regulatory Agency (AERA) got acquainted with Türkiye's experience in gas market regulation (on gas market structure, market liberalization, and legislative framework).
Turkish company BOTAŞ and Shell on September 2 signed a gas agreement for 10 years, under this agreement, Shell will supply annually (from 2027) about 4 bcm of LNG per year, Türkiye's Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar wrote on X.
Additionally, it became known that Turkish company Çalik Enerji Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş. won Turkmenistan's tender for the implementation of the EPC-contract for the construction of compressor station (CS) Shatlyk-1 (Shatlyk-1) in Mary province on the main gas pipeline (MGP) "East-West."
The Global Petrol Prices portal announced this week that Turkmenistan is among the top ten countries with the lowest prices for diesel fuel and gasoline.
Also this week, a whole host of energy news came pouring out of Kazakhstan.
One of the most important global news stories is that Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has set the date for a national referendum on the construction of a nuclear power plant in Kazakhstan for October 6 this year.
Tokayev also instructed the government to speed up the construction of gas processing plants in Zhanaozen, Kashagan, and Karachaganak.
Kazakhstan's Energy Ministry stated this week that liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from the Kashagan field will be directed to Kazakhstan's domestic market. It is specified that the agreement on the terms of the sale and purchase of Kashagan LPG was reached following negotiations between the partners of the North Caspian project and “QazaqGaz” with the participation of the Ministry of Energy and PSA LLP.
Kazakhstan and Congo, on September 4, discussed prospects for cooperation in the fuel and energy sector, industrial networking, and best practices in selecting equipment suppliers for the oil and gas industry and refineries. Astana discussed topics of potential cooperation and exchange of experience in creating attractive conditions for large international investments in oil and gas chemical projects.
News of global significance came from Uzbekistan on September 6. As a result of geological exploration works conducted by the state enterprise Navoiyuran, promising uranium deposits were discovered in Shafirkan district of the Bukhara region, the Farish district of the Jizzak region, Kyzyltepa and Khatyrchi districts of the Navoi region, Mubarek and Kasan districts of the Kashkadarya region, Angren city of the Tashkent region, and Pap district of the Namangan region. Earlier, Uzbek Deputy Minister of Mines and Geology Jamal Fayzullayev noted that Navoiyuran plans to increase uranium production by 1.5 times.
The topic of industry development was discussed on September 5 by the Uzbek government with an IAEA delegation.
The executive director of Iran's Amir Kabir Petrochemical Company, Saeed Sadeghi, announced this week that the company's revenue for the 5th month of the Iranian year (from July 22 through August 21, 2024) was 33 trillion rials (about $78.1 million), which is 29 percent higher compared to the same period last year (July 23 through August 22, 2023).
In European news, an important announcement was made by European company Gastrade S.A. that commercial operations at the new liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal Alexandroupolis LNG will start on October 1, 2024, which is the start of the new “Gas Year” (the period of the “Gas Year” in Europe is from October through October).
The European Commission (EC) launched an assessment of the effectiveness of the EU's energy security architecture on September 3. On its website, the EC announced that it will collect requests and data from a wide range of stakeholders, companies, analysts, and NGOs until November 26 to “test the appropriateness” of the EU's energy security architecture.
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