Exxon to pay $30 million for pulling out of Azeri field

Exxon to pay $30 million for pulling out of Azeri field

Reuters
June 20, 2005

BAKU, June 20 (Reuters) – U.S. oil major Exxon Mobil will pay
Azerbaijan around $30 million in compensation after giving up on
exploring the Nakhichevan oil field in the Caspian Sea, the head of
the Azeri state oil firm said on Monday. “We have concluded our
discussions with Exxon Mobil on Nakhichevan,” Natik Aliyev, president
of Azeri state oil firm SOCAR, told reporters. “The amount of
compensation will be around $30 million.”

An exploration well drilled in 2002 did not find commercial quantities
of oil and earlier this year Exxon pulled out of drilling at a second
site on Nakhichevan.

SOCAR will now discuss with Exxon its claim for compensation for
pulling out of another Caspian field, Zafar Mashal, where it spent
$150 million fruitlessly in 2004.

Exxon is still involved in three Azeri projects, although two have
been frozen by a territorial dispute between Azerbaijan and Iran.