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Azerbaijan to sign a contact with Franceâ€™s Total on Absheron offshore block

13 November 2008 16:45 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Vugar Mustafayev - APA-Economics. In Paris, the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) will hold the next round of talks with Franceâ€™s Total on the Absheron Block in the Caspian Sector of Azerbaijan.
Vagif Aliyev, SOCARâ€™s head of international investments, said a draft agreement has been prepared for signing in December.
In June, Franceâ€™s Total signed an agreement with State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), setting out the main conditions and commercial principles of a exploration, development and production sharing agreement for Absheron offshore oil and gas block.
Under the deal, Total will be the operator of the Absheron Block, with a 60 percent interest and SOCAR will holding 40 percent.
The block, estimated to contain enormous volumes of gas and condensate, has revived great interest against the backdrop of increasing demand globally.
Total (20%), U.S. energy firm Chevron Corp. (CVX) (30%) and SOCAR (50%) had previously signed a deal in 1997 to develop the Absheron field while Chevron and Total abandoned the project in 2001 after drilling the first well, saying it wasnâ€™t commercially viable.
The foreign companies compensated SOCAR and the contract terminated in 2005.