TotalEnergies, XRG make FID for Absheron gas field development in Caspian Sea

TotalEnergies and XRG announced on Sept. 26 a final investment decision to develop the offshore Absheron natural gas and condensate field in the Caspian Sea, 100 km southeast of Baku.

TotalEnergies is operator with a 35% stake, XRG has 30% and Azerbaijan's state-owned Socar holds 35%, TotalEnergies and XRG said in separate statements Sept. 26. Both TotalEnergies and XRG said Socar joined the FID. Socar did not respond to a Sept. 27 request for comment outside of business hours. An XRG spokesperson said the investment size is not being disclosed. TotalEnergies did not respond to a request Sept. 27 for comment.

Production from the new development is expected to start in 2029, with output rising to 600 million cubic feet of gas/day (6 billion cubic meters/year) and 47,000 barrels/day of condensate, TotalEnergies and XRG said. The first phase of development began in 2023 with a production capacity of 1.5 Bcm/year of gas and 12,000 b/d of condensate, TotalEnergies said.

The Absheron development contains up to 5 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas resources, (140 billion cubic meters), TotalEnergies and XRG said.

"The gas will supply the domestic market and will be exported to Turkey via the existing gas infrastructure connecting Azerbaijan to the European gas market, thus contributing to the strengthening of regional energy security," TotalEnergies said.

The gas will be produced from four subsea wells and transported to shore via pipeline, TotalEnergies said.

Absheron is "one of the largest gas discoveries in the Caspian Sea," TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne said in the statement. "In line with our strategy, the full development of the Absheron field is a low-cost, low-emission project that will ensure long-term gas supplies to the domestic and international market and contribute to regional energy security."

Azerbaijan's overall gas production in the first half of 2026 amounted to 25.4 Bcm, according to energy ministry data, up from 25.2 Bcm in the same period of 2025. Of the total, 13.7 Bcm came from the Shah Deniz field, 7.3 Bcm from the BP-operated ACG oil field, 3.6 Bcm from Socar fields, and 0.8 Bcm from the Absheron field.