Azerbaijan contracts new energy services

BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- French energy services company Technip said its position in gas- and oil-rich Azerbaijan is strengthened by a service contract with a state energy firm.

The State Oil Co. of Azerbaijan Republic awarded Technip with a contract of undisclosed value for services at a petrochemical complex and gas processing plant in the Caspian border city of Garadagh.

"This achievement consolidates also our long term relationship with a key client like Socar and at the same time reinforces our presence in Azerbaijan, considered a strategic market for Technip," Marco Villa, Technip's regional president, said in a statement.

Azerbaijan is one of the regional leaders in terms of oil and natural gas production. Its Shah Deniz gas complex is one of the largest in the world and the country is one of the oldest oil producers, servicing primarily the European market.

The agreement follows merger consent from the shareholders of FMC, a company specializing in subsea oil and gas operations, and Technip, a leader in submarine pipeline installation and broad-based oil and gas infrastructure development, last month.

The merger follows a rebound for crude oil prices after an early 2016 slump and a subsequent build up in contracts for companies like Technip that offer services to energy companies. In November, the two companies were awarded contracts to help with the construction and installation of the infrastructure necessary to help develop the Trestakk field in the Norwegian Sea. Confirmed in 1986, the Trestakk field holds about 76 million barrels of recoverable oil equivalent, and most of that exists as oil.