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SOCAR Vice-President: Azerbaijan and Iran pledged not to explore disputed fields until Caspian status is solved

03 June 2009 14:05 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Rashad Suleymanov - APA-Economics. Iran plans to launch exploratory work in other southern parts of the Caspian Sea, not in Alov field, said SOCARâ€™s First Vice-President Khoshbaht Yusifzade.

The statement came after Tehram Times quoted Iranian Oil Minister Gholam-Hossein Nozari as saying Iran plans to drill an exploratory well in the Caspian Sea at a disputed oil field that Azerbaijan calls Alov and Iran calls Alborz.

According to him, Azerbaijan and Iran had pledged to not do any exploration work on the controversial structures of Araz, Alov and Sharg until the distribution of the Caspian Sea is agreed.

â€œIran plans to do exploration work in other parts of the Caspian Sea not in Alov. So, there is no problem between Iran and Azerbaijan on this issue,â€ he added.

Note that the Alov Field is part of Araz-Alov-Sharg contract area which covers approximately 1,400 sq km. and is about 120 km southeast of Baku in depths between 300 and 800 meters.

Azerbaijan signed a production sharing agreement on July 1998 with BP (15%), Statoil (15%), SOCAR (40%), ExonMobil (15%), TPAO (10%) and Alberta Energy (5%).

On July 23, 2001, an Iranian warship and two jets forced a research vessel working on behalf of British Petroleum (BP)-Amoco in the Araz-Alov-Sharg.

The drilling of the first well was postponed until Azerbaijan and Iran establish the boundary line in the southern Caspian.