The French energy major Total this weekend announced yet another major natural gas discovery in the Caspian Sea offshore from Azerbaijan. The Absheron block is located to the east of the better-known Shah Deniz field (in which Total has a … Continue reading →
Incident The EU’s president Jose Manuel Barroso, visiting Baku with energy commissioner Guenther Oettinger, has signed an agreement with Azerbaijan’s president Ilham Aliev foreseeing the sale of “substantial volumes of gas over the long term.” But they did not publish … Continue reading →
In mid-August, BP Azerbaijan announced that oil from Turkmenistan is now entering the BTC in Azerbaijan and will constitute between four and five percent of its present throughput of 800,000 barrels per day (bpd), which is being upgraded to 1.2 million bpd with a view towards eventual inclusion of oil from Kazakhstan’s offshore Tengiz field. These practical steps of cooperation with Azerbaijan, combined with the mid-August announcement in Ashgabad of new directions in Turkmenistan’s gas export policy, point the way towards a European direction for future Turkmenistani production, not forgetting China and the possibility of South Asia, while Iran is given only marginal reference and Russia is ignored.
Continue reading →The appearance of Nabucco financing sources has made possible the signing this week of a transit agreement to govern the natural gas pipeline. The agreement marks an important staging post in bringing to reality the long-touted energy route, which is … Continue reading →