(EurasiaDigest)–Officials of the US Exxon Mobil energy firm announced on March 24 the company’s withdrawal from a project to develop the Zafar-Masal offshore Caspian oil field after test drilling failed to discover any significant oil deposits–Turan reported. The decision was announced following a meeting with Azerbaijani State Oil Company (SOCAR) President Natik Aliyev to negotiate the terms of the financial penalty resulting from the withdrawal. Exxon Mobil withdrew in 2002 from a second contract to develop the Oguz field after similarly failing to find oil in commercially viable quantities after drilling two trial wells.
