BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 6.Having supported Azerbaijan's energy sector for decades, Baker Hughes sees significant opportunities ahead, both in Azerbaijan and across the wider Caspian region, Baker Hughes Vice President of Europe and CIS Elena Akoltseva said in an exclusive interview with Trend.
“The region remains strategically important due to its resource base, established infrastructure, and growing role in supporting global energy security.
As one of the world’s oldest oil-producing regions, we see many opportunities to help operators in Azerbaijan and the Caspian region maximize value from their existing assets.
As fields age, more technology-driven solutions are needed to improve efficiency, reliability, and recovery while reducing emissions and operating costs.
Baker Hughes has a wide range of advanced well construction, production optimization and digital technologies to address the challenges our customers’ face in mature oil and gas fields,” she The regional VP noted that the company also sees growing interest in electrification, methane reduction, asset performance management, and digital technologies that help operators achieve both operational and sustainability objectives.
”A good example is our ongoing collaboration with SOCAR, announced during COP29, to help reduce flaring and abate downstream emissions at the Heydar Aliyev Baku Oil Refinery.
Projects like this demonstrate how technology can deliver both operational and sustainability outcomes,” she said.
Akoltseva pointed out that in the competitive landscape, localization remains a key priority in Azerbaijan.
“Baker Hughes employs more than 300 people in the country, approximately 95% of whom are Azerbaijani nationals.
We believe our long-standing local presence, investment in talent, and partnerships position us well to further expand local capabilities in services, manufacturing, and field operations.
Looking across the Caspian region, we see continued investment in energy infrastructure and industrial development.
Our focus is on supporting customers with technologies that enhance energy security, improve competitiveness, and reduce emissions through technology, local expertise and long-term partnerships,” she Extending ACG’s productive life Akoltseva noted that as large producing assets mature, technology becomes increasingly important in maintaining production performance and maximizing ultimate recovery.
“Long-producing fields such as ACG are becoming more complex and require advanced technological approaches.
Azerbaijan’s offshore giants, including ACG, demand new technologies as operators focus on maximizing recovery and extending field life.
In the subsea domain, modern monitoring and intervention technologies can provide operators with improved visibility into well and reservoir performance, helping identify opportunities to manage pressure, optimize flow, and increase production efficiency.
Recent vessel-based intervention campaigns in the ACG area demonstrate the industry’s focus on extracting greater value from existing infrastructure,” she said.
The regional VP noted that Baker Hughes also sees significant opportunities in integrated reservoir management, predictive analytics, condition monitoring, and data-driven well intervention “The combination of physical technologies and digital intelligence can help operators extend field life, improve recovery factors, and enhance overall asset economics,” she added.
Akoltseva pointed out that Azerbaijan remains one of Baker Hughes’ strategic markets in the Caspian region, and its portfolio today spans subsea and well construction technologies, production and intervention services, industrial and energy technology equipment, digital applications, and lifecycle services supporting both offshore and onshore operations.
“Baker Hughes has maintained a long-standing presence in the country and continues to support operators and national energy stakeholders across the value chain,” she said.
Expanding business beyond ACG and Shah Akoltseva noted that Shah Deniz remains one of the most important gas developments in the region and continues to play a critical role in supplying natural gas to Azerbaijan, Türkiye, and European markets.
“The field is a highly sophisticated offshore development with extensive subsea infrastructure and ongoing drilling and production activities.
Baker Hughes continues to work closely with operators across Azerbaijan’s energy sector to identify opportunities where our technologies can create value.
Our focus areas include mature asset solutions, production enhancement, digitalization, and other technologies that improve efficiency and reliability,” she The regional VP believes there is significant potential to apply these solutions not only to established producing assets such as ACG and Shah Deniz, but also to other offshore and onshore developments as operators seek to maximize recovery, improve operational performance, and support the long-term sustainability of Azerbaijan’s energy sector.
“Baker Hughes remains committed to collaborating with SOCAR, bp, and other industry stakeholders to bring innovative technologies and local capability development to the market,” she added.
Medium- and long-term business potential in wider Caspian region Akoltseva noted that looking beyond Azerbaijan – Baker Hughes operates in Central Asia in Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
“We see the Caspian region....
