BAKU, Azerbaijan, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Azerbaijan signed a production-sharing agreement with Emirati company Bahar Energy Ltd. for work in two offshore oil and gas fields in the Caspian Sea.
The State Oil Co. of Azerbaijan Republic signed the PSA for the exploration, rehabilitation and development of the Bahar and Gum Deniz fields in Azeri waters.
Rovnag Abdullayev, the head of SOCAR, and Richard McDougall, the chief executive at Bahar Energy, signed the agreement in Baku, the Trend news agency reports. A memorandum of understanding was reached in April.
The Bahar field produced more than 16 million tons of oil and 4.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas since it went into operation in 1969. Energy analysts expect production to decline by more than 10 percent in the coming years, however.
Gum Deniz has produced more than 28 million tons of oil and 953 billion cubic feet of natural gas since operations began in 1955.
SOCAR said stabilizing the reserves requires foreign capital. Bahar takes an 80-percent stake in the projects under the terms of the 25-year deal.
