Page 13 - FSUOGM Week 29 2021

FSUOGM ENERGY TRANSITION FSUOGM

SOCAR eyes Caspian Sea

wind turbines

AZERBAIJAN AZERBAIJAN’S SOCAR is looking at deploy- wind power in the Caspian would help reduce
ing wind turbines in the Caspian Sea, in a move them.
SOCAR is looking to that would help the state-owned oil and gas pro- “The energy efficiency is in focus for many
reduce its methane ducer reduce the emissions from its oil and gas energy companies and is an important part of
emissions and make its production. SOCAR’s strategic plans,” SOCAR President
gas more attractive to SOCAR said it had entered into a co-oper- Rovnag Abdullayev said in a statement. “In line
buyers. ation pact with French services group Technip with the development trends of technology,
Energies, under which the pair will study the we are already entering this area. Our goal is
construction of floating wind turbines to gener- to reduce operating costs, increase energy effi-
ate power for rigs in Azerbaijan’s portion of the ciency and ensure the sustainability of opera-
Caspian Sea. The partnership could lead to the tions at SOCAR.”
development of the country’s first offshore wind SOCAR, BP and the other partners at TAP
farm. are weighing up whether to double the pipeline’s
The announcement comes as SOCAR and capacity to 20bn cubic metres per year, or opt for
its investment partners seek to generate more a smaller-scale expansion. Increasing the pipe-
interest in Azeri gas in Europe ahead of market line’s capacity would enable more gas to flow
tests this month on a potential expansion of the from the BP-operated Shah Deniz field in the
Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), which would Azeri Caspian. SOCAR has a 16.7% stake in the
enable more supplies from the country to reach upstream project. It is also a partner at Azerbai-
the continent's south-east. Gas customers and jan’s flagship offshore Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli
investors are increasingly assessing suppliers (ACG) project, which ships crude oil to interna-
based on their Scope 1 and 2 emissions, and tional markets, and a number of other offshore
replacing gas-fired generators on board rigs with fields. ™

NEWS IN BRIEF

RUSSIA Russia have been well established since to acquire a new energy market to offset
Soviet times and remain focussed on the an anticipated declining European energy
Russia deepening energy, extensive oil and gas pipeline network that export business as the EU’s Green Deal
comes into effect in the next few years.
runs out of the region and into the Russian
security ties with Pakistan pipeline network. New pipelines to the an agreement in Islamabad for the Pak
On July 15, a Russian delegation signed
west, principally the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan
with the new Pak Stream (BTC) pipeline, opened a new direction to Stream Gas Pipeline (PSGP) project,
formerly known as the North-South Gas
southern Europe in the noughties and more
gas pipeline pipelines to China have enabled energy Pipeline Project. The pipeline will join
supplies to China in the east. But the one
the family of the Nord Stream 1 & 2 gas
The Kremlin is continuing a policy of cardinal point that remains closed is to pipelines in northern Europe and the
deepening ties with other G20 members the south as instability and two decades of TurkStream pipeline that connects Russia
and emerging markets in its regions war have meant the southern direction has to Turkey. Russia has also built the Power
through new energy and security deals with remained blocked. of Siberia gas pipeline that connects its
Pakistan. Now the Americans have withdrawn western Siberian gas fields to China’s
Russia has promised to build a new from Afghanistan the ‘Stans and Russia have underdeveloped north-west territories.
$2.5bn natural gas pipeline in the country hopes that the southern route will open up The Pak Stream 1,100-km pipeline
and offered its traditional package where to both Russia and Central Asian exports – will more than double Pakistan's current
energy deals are accompanied with arms hopes that appear to have been temporarily capacity to transport 340mn cubic metres
deals. Moscow has also offered to help dashed by the sudden resurgence of the of imported natural gas per day from liquid
support Pakistan in its fight against Taliban, who have captured most of the natural gas (LNG) terminals in the southern
terrorism with arms sales. country only weeks after the last US boots port of Karachi to Punjab in the north,
Central Asia has found a new regional left Afghan soil. where there is high demand. It is expected
significance not seen since the dying days Nevertheless, Russia is actively to come on stream by 2023.
of the British Empire as the region starts to developing ties with Pakistan on the other The pipeline will be the first major
blossom and the five ‘Stans – Kazakhstan, side of Afghanistan and is clearly hoping Russian investment in Pakistan in decades
Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and that this will aide in talks with the Afghanis since it helped establish the Oil and Gas
Kyrgyzstan – reach out to each other to so the bridge can eventually be opened to Development Company in the 1960s and
increase mutual co-operation while at the trade and transit through the mountainous Pakistan Steel Mills in the '70s.
same time developing energy and trade ties country. Relations between the two states
in all directions. At the same time, analysts say Russia’s weakened in the 1980s when Pakistan
The relations between the ‘Stans and investments in Pakistan are part of a policy helped the US funnel military and financial

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