Azerbaijan signs $10b-plus investment deals

Azerbaijan has signed deals with potential investment exceeding $10 billion, according to a presidential aide speaking on Saturday at an investment forum in Baku. The Express Tribune reported that the agreements came alongside several energy announcements. State oil firm Socar, France's TotalEnergies and Abu Dhabi's XRG have approved full-scale development of Absheron, a gas and condensate field.

President Ilham Aliyev said the second stage of Absheron, a sizeable offshore project in Caspian waters, is expected to add about 5 billion cubic metres to annual gas output within three to four years. He added that hydrocarbons will keep driving the economy and generating income that will be put back into investment. He also noted that non-oil activity now makes up over 70% of GDP, whereas hydrocarbons still represent above 90% of exports.

Separately, Socar and the American firm ExxonMobil inked a production-sharing deal for unconventional hydrocarbons in the Middle Kura basin, where each partner holds 50% and ExxonMobil will act as operator. Aliyev added that transit volumes are set to total 16 million metric tons in the current year, with the aim of reaching 25 million tons, or higher, by 2030. The government is also in talks with overseas firms, which were not named, on building data centres and AI capacity in the country.