The government of Azerbaijan has approved Gran Tierra Energy Inc. and the State Oil Co. of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) to jointly proceed with development of a prospective onshore field in the Guba-Khazaryani region.

The early October ratification of the EDPSA by Milli Majlis, Azerbaijan’s Parliament, follows the previous exploration, development, and production sharing agreement (EDPSA) Gran Tierra signed with SOCAR in February for the Guba-Khazaryani contract area, which surrounds a 65-km-long structure that has produced more than 100 million bbl of oil and more than 200 bcf of natural gas.

Gran Tierra confirmed it has already completed an airborne digital full tensor gradiometry (dFTG) survey in the contract area by flying 102 lines for 5,775-line km, covering a total area of 4,815 sq km.

Alongside helping to define the geometry of sedimentary basins and fault-related structures that potentially trap oil and gas in the contract area, information from the dFTG survey will be integrated with existing seismic and exploratory well data to optimize the selection of future seismic acquisition areas and exploration and appraisal drilling locations, according to Gran Tierra.

With airborne gravity data now acquired as stipulated under the recently ratified EDPSA, next steps in the project’s development will include additional 3D seismic surveys, as well as drilling of exploration wells aimed at unlocking the hydrocarbon potential of the contract area.

With a 65% stake in the development, Gran Tierra will act as the operator the Guba-Caspian area project on behalf of partner SOCAR (35%).