Azneft Production Union of Azerbaijani state oil company SOCAR plans to drill 72 new wells in 2016, said SOCAR’s message posted Aug. 3 on its website.

It was noted at the meeting on the results of the production union’s activity in the first half of 2016 that drilling has started at 34 wells.

Speaking at the meeting, deputy director general of the union on drilling, overhaul of wells and transport Rustam Zeynalov said that drilling operations have been completed at 26 wells.

“Another 28 wells have been commissioned,” Zeynalov said. “In total, it is planned to drill 72 new wells in 2016.”

During the meeting, deputy director general of the union on construction Alimusa Guliyev noted that 204 facilities were repaired during the year and another 15 of them underwent an overhaul, the repair work continues at nine platforms.

In the first half of 2016 Azneft Production Union of SOCAR extracted 3.13 million tons of oil and 2.84 billion cubic meters of gas.