Baku: SOCAR is actively preparing new agreements for oil and gas exploration in Azerbaijan, announced SOCAR Vice President Babek Huseynov during the 'Upstream Sector - New Horizons' session at the Baku Energy Forum.

According to Azeri-Press News Agency, the company is working to expedite existing exploration opportunities and develop priority projects in response to increasing energy demand. Huseynov indicated that SOCAR has recently evaluated its exploration portfolio, prioritized projects, and taken steps to expand cooperation with potential investors.

Huseynov explained that as a result of data rooms and presentations organized since last year, there has been noticeable investor interest. Several agreements were signed in the previous year, ongoing negotiations are taking place on some projects, and more results are anticipated in the coming period.

The SOCAR official noted that the company's exploration activities are currently structured around 20 different projects, which are categorized into three main areas. These projects involve prospective structures located onshore, in the Middle Caspian, and in the South Caspian.

Babek Huseynov emphasized that SOCAR plans to execute some projects independently, while collaborating with international partners on more complex and capital-intensive projects. The main objective is to advance promising projects to a certain stage of development, mitigate risks, and then achieve implementation in partnership with others.