Baku, July 2, AZERTAC

The Journal of Petroleum Technology, the Society of Petroleum Engineers’ flagship magazine, has published an extensive article by renowned American publicist Pat Davis Szymczak highlighting the energy development in Azerbaijan.

The article said: “As Azerbaijan prepares to host COP29, JPT looks back at how the country prospered for millennia on its largess of oil and gas and its unique geography along the ancient Silk Road that today is traversed by pipelines delivering gas and oil to Europe from the depths of the Caspian Sea.”

Highlighting the main stages of the development of the national oil industry, the author provided insight into the country's achievements in this field, saying that it was in Azerbaijan when the world’s first mechanically oil well was drilled in 1846 using a cable-tool percussion drilling method.

“The most consequential event for post-Soviet Azerbaijan was the signing in September 1994 of the “Contract of the Century” which brought on a feeding frenzy among energy majors eager to pay hefty signing bonuses to obtain production sharing agreements (PSAs) to explore and hopefully produce any of a host of blocks that were put on auction at the time,” the article noted.

“We turn now to the high-pressure Shah Deniz gas condensate field, BP’s largest-ever gas find, operated from two platforms in the Caspian Sea under a PSA signed in June 1996 that has since been extended to 2048.

The start of first gas from Shah Deniz’s Alpha platform in 2007 put Azerbaijan literally on the map as a gas exporter, with a capability to deliver gas to Georgia and Türkiye via the South Caucasus Pipeline,” the author underlined.

“The World Bank estimates that Azerbaijan could be producing 7 GW of power from Caspian Sea winds by 2040, and Baku is lining up partners to take the challenge seriously.

Saudi-listed ACWA Power and SOCAR agreed in April 2024 to partner on green hydrogen production. ACWA is currently building a $345-million, 240-MW wind power plant in Azerbaijan’s Absheron-Khizi regions.

TotalEnergies signed a Memorandum of Understanding in June 2023 to develop 500 MW of renewable wind, solar energies, and energy storage systems for Baku’s national grid.

BP expects a final investment decision (FID) by year-end on the $200-million, 240-MW Shafag solar power plant situated near Jabrayil.

In 2023, SOCAR partnered with Masdar, the UAE’s clean energy company, to develop three major solar and wind projects in Azerbaijan with a combined capacity of 1GW.

SOCAR also agreed with Masdar and ACWA Power to develop 500 MW of renewable energy in the Nakhchivan region of Azerbaijan.

ACWA is also eyeing construction of a 1-GW onshore wind power plant, a 1.5-GW offshore wind power plant, and various hydrogen projects in Azerbaijan,” the article emphasized.

The Journal of Petroleum Technology, the Society of Petroleum Engineers’ flagship magazine, presents authoritative briefs and features on technology advancements in exploration and production, oil and gas industry issues, and news about SPE and its members.