Asian oil and gas companies replace European ones in Azerbaijan

12:48 - 11.12.2024

December 11, Fineko/abc.az. Western companies have been withdrawing from oil and gas projects in Azerbaijan for more than 10 years. So, in 2014, in addition to Statoil, France’s TotalEnergies decided to leave Shah Deniz Project, explaining its decision with an economic component – the company did not want to increase investments in the field.

This year, the French company also gave up part of its shares in another gas project – the company sold part of its stake in Absheron field to ADNOC from the UAE. It is expected that after the transaction, the share of the Emirati company in this project will make up 30%.

ABC.AZ reports that as a whole, Asian companies, which have been noticeably strengthening their role in global oil and gas projects in recent years, are also showing interest in Azerbaijani fields.

So, in addition to the already-mentioned Emirati oil giant ADNOC, Azerbaijani projects are also in the focus of attention of Chinese companies, for example, China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC), which also considered buying ACG shares.

In addition, the oil & gas projects of Azerbaijan and the countries of the region are actively studying and developing. So, in May of this year, it was announced that Uzbekneftegaz and SOCAR plan to sign an agreement on the entry of an Uzbek company into Shah Deniz Project in the coming months.
And this year, Russia’s Tatneft, together with SOCAR, began working at Bibieybat, the oldest oilfield in Azerbaijan.
Experts believe that Western energy companies, amid the growing popularity of "green energy" and the gradual abandonment of oil and gas projects, are reducing their investments in hydrocarbon projects.
At the same time, Asian companies, which are also actively developing projects in the field of renewable energy sources, are increasingly expanding their presence in promising hydrocarbon projects around the world.
It is possible that energy companies from Russia, China, India, the Persian Gulf and Central Asia will become the main investors and developers of oil & gas fields in Azerbaijan.