Analysis: The participation of Rosneft in the Absheron project to allow it to influence choice of route for Azerbaijani gas export to Europe

Rosneft seeks the  possibility to take part in the Azerbaijani gas project Absheron on shelf of the Caspian Sea. According to some information, in July this issue was discussed by the company’s Head, Igor Sechin, the Azerbaijani President, Ilham Aliyev and the project operator – French Total. According to expectations, the Absheron field, where the presence of large gas reserves was proved a year ago, in July of 2012, may become the next trump card for Azerbaijan in the issues of Caspian gas supplies to Europeand create competition to European export of the Russian gas monopolist Gazprom. According to preliminary data, 150-300 billion cubic meters of natural gas and roughly 45 million tons of condensate are located in the northern part of the Absheron field.

The possibility that Rosneft will come to the Azerbaijani shelf are estimated as rather high, taking into account the company’s capability to give a good price for a share in the Absheron project due to receipt of about $60 billion from oil deals with China.