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| Drew Goodbread, Venture Country Manager of Exxon Azerbaijan Operating Company LLC (an ExxonMobil subsidiary) talks to
"Azerbaijan Today" about how he sees his company's future in Azerbaijan. |
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AT: How would you characterize the development of ExxonMobil's position in Azerbaijan? Do you think there are still
substantial investments to be made?
D.G: We have been here since 1995 and have been contributing to
ACG [Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli] field which is in the early stages of development. We're going through a
number of phases with that development program so production is continuing to increase. On the exploration side, for
which I am primarily responsible, we are preparing to drill the well on the Zafar-Mashal block once the Maersk-Lider
rig testing program is finished. We have a lot of hopes for making a discovery in Azerbaijan and we hope it will be
a major discovery. If that happens we will go into a development stage and then a production stage in much the same
way as other operators have done.
AT: ExxonMobil is the first international oil company to employ advanced technologies such as the Lider semi-submersible drilling
rig in Azerbaijan. Could you explain the significance of this deployment for your company's operations?
D.G: We've used other high-technology rigs similar to the Lider before. But the Lider was constructed so we could reach
particularly deep waters of the Caspian. It can work in depths up to 1,000 meters and drill up to 9,000 meters. It will
allow us to explore the full extent of our block area and hopefully to develop it as well.
AT: So you think this rig is going to give you a significant advantage over other companies exploring in the Caspian?
D.G: It is the most capable rig in all of the Caspian. While we have a number of wells to drill there are other companies that will have
access to this rig for which there will be a collaborative sharing agreement, also there may be occasions where this rig can be deployed
elsewhere in the Caspian.
AT: ExxonMobil is currently exploring the Zafar-Mashal block but you also have a number of other commitments such as the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) field
where BP is the operator. Do your current priorities lie more in the direction of research and development of new blocks or in the logistics and
transportation from existing fields?
D.G: It is not one at the exclusion of the other. We are doing both in parallel. So our priorities remain focused on both the development of
ACG and the exploration of our block. Concerning Zafar-Mashal, a lot of people have the image that it is a discovery just waiting to be
developed but in fact we will have to wait for the results to see exactly what we have. I should emphasize that we are a large company
so we have the financial and technical resources to develop both these projects. There is no reason to say one is a higher priority than
the other we have obligations on both and we will meet them. The timelines might be a little different but that does not prevent us from
fulfilling our obligations.
AT: How would you characterize the development of ExxonMobil's position in Azerbaijan? Do you think there are still substantial investments to be made?
D.G: We have been here since 1995 and have been contributing to ACG [Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli] field which is in the early stages of development.
We're going through a number of phases with that development program so production is continuing to increase. On the exploration side, for
which I am primarily responsible, we are preparing to drill the well on the Zafar-Mashal block once the Maersk-Lider rig testing program is
finished. We have a lot of hopes for making a discovery in Azerbaijan and we hope it will be a major discovery. If that happens we will go
into a development stage and then a production stage in much the same way as other operators have done.
AT: ExxonMobil is the first international oil company to employ advanced technologies such as the Lider semi-submersible drilling rig in
Azerbaijan. Could you explain the significance of this deployment for your company's operations?
D.G: We've used other high-technology rigs similar to the Lider before. But the Lider was constructed so we could reach particularly deep
waters of the Caspian. It can work in depths up to 1,000 meters and drill up to 9,000 meters. It will allow us to explore the full extent
of our block area and hopefully to develop it as well.
AT: So you think this rig is going to give you a significant advantage over other companies exploring in the Caspian?
D.G: It is the most capable rig in all of the Caspian. While we have a number of wells to drill there are other companies that
will have access to this rig for which there will be a collaborative sharing agreement, also there may be occasions where this rig can be deployed elsewhere in the Caspian.
AT: ExxonMobil is currently exploring the Zafar-Mashal block but you also have a number of other commitments such as the
Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) field where BP is the operator. Do your current priorities lie more in the direction of research
and development of new blocks or in the logistics and transportation from existing fields?
D.G: It is not one at the exclusion of the other. We are doing both in parallel. So our priorities remain focused on both the
development of ACG and the exploration of our block. Concerning Zafar-Mashal, a lot of people have the image that it is a
discovery just waiting to be developed but in fact we will have to wait for the results to see exactly what we have. I
should emphasize that we are a large company so we have the financial and technical resources to develop both these
projects. There is no reason to say one is a higher priority than the other we have obligations on both and we will
meet them. The timelines might be a little different but that does not prevent us from fulfilling our obligations.
AT: Does the company view the Caspian region as a serious alternative source of energy in the next 20-30 years?
D.G: That depends on what your benchmarks are. A long time ago when people said this going to be a viable alternative
source of production I think those folks did not understand how the vast the volumes are in the greater Middle East. I
do not think the people that have studied the geology think that this region will equal the Middle East. But I think it will
be a significant source of hydrocarbons. If you look at ACG, for example, it is a very large field with many billions
of barrels. If you look at the statistics it is in the order of 5 billion barrels, which is a large field by world
standards. So the corporation has a lot of interest in the greater Caspian and we are participaing in a significant
num- ber of production sharing agreements.
AT: Is ExxonMobil committing for the long-term in Azerbaijan?
D.G: It is a long-term business. We may wait up to 3-4 years before being able to drill a well and several years to appraise whether we
have made a discovery. So by its very nature it is a long-term business. We are drilling this exploration well which we hope will
result in a discovery. So I think we have to let the geology dictate what our long-term presence is going to be. But we are optimistic
we will find something.
AT: What is the likelihood of a substantial discovery at the Zafar-Mashal well?
D.G: I am not going to speculate. It will either come in or it won't. We also drilled at Nakhchivan and Oguz and we
never expected every well to be a discovery. But the way to look at it is that we believe that it will result in a
commercial discovery, which would by its very nature make it substantial.
AT: But could it be something to rival ACG?
D.G: You can say we would be in the same league.
AT: So could Azerbaijan be a much greater opportunity for ExxonMobil than Kazakhstan because you could become a
significant operator here?
D.G: Kazakhstan has a much greater geographic area than Azerbaijan, and all things being equal, I think Kazakhstan will
end up having greater resources just because it is so much bigger. So while we like to operate we are fairly happy in
being in a non-operator position on the ACG field. But again it is not one at the exclusion of the other.
AT: As a percentage of your total investment in Azerbaijan are you making a contribution to
social investment?
D.G: Since we have been here we have spent over $3 million. Most of those programs have been
focused on education, for example, publishing encyclopaedias, dictionaries, and supporting
refugees and IDP's. It is hard to put a dollar figure on it when you look at the personal
time and commitment people have invested in the community. So it is not just dollars and cents. We
do it because we are a part of the community and we are committed to being a good corporate citizen.
Interview by Piers von Berg
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