Azerbaijan’s integrated drilling and oil services management company, SOCAR AQS, opened 40 wells to expand the storage capacity of the Lake Tuz (Tuz Gölu) Natural Gas Storage Facility in central Anatolia, the head of SOCAR AQS said Wednesday.
Around $103 million will be invested for storage expansion at the Lake Tuz facility, Director General of SOCAR AQS Ramin Isayev told Anadolu Agency (AA).
Each well needs an investment of between $2 million and $2.5 million, he explained.
"The drilling operation has been completed in a total of 17 wells out of 40," he said, adding that the contract date is scheduled and drilling operations are expected to finalize by the end of October 2020.
Currently, the facility can store 600 million cubic meters (mcm) of gas and has another 600 mcm of capacity under construction with plans to reach 5.4 billion cubic meters by 2023-24.
Commenting on the Lake Tuz expansion project, he said the company considers the project "one of the most important of its kind" and aims to deliver it on time and within budget.
"I think Azerbaijan and Turkey are strategic partners in the field of energy developments. I hope that both Turkey and Azerbaijan will strengthen bilateral relations to our mutual benefit," he said.
Low oil prices and COVID-19
Low oil prices will not affect the company's operations in Turkey, he said, although he explained that with the COVID-19 pandemic, new parameters have been set in the necessity to work from home and in taking extra safety precautions on-site at the Lake Tuz facility.
"SOCAR AQS immediately took action in the working environment in Turkey and other places against the pandemic and now we use virtual meeting technologies more often," he said.
Last year in October, a joint venture consisting of SOCAR AQS, China CAMC Engineering Co. Ltd. and IC İçtaş Construction Industries & Trade Inc. announced the signing of an integrated drilling services contract for the drilling of 40 wells for storage expansion at the Lake Tuz facility.
On June 27, 2018, the World Bank and China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) approved a total credit of $1.2 billion for the facility.
The Lake Tuz Natural Gas Storage Facility was officially opened on Feb. 10, 2017, by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.