BAKU Members of the Japan Azerbaijan Oil Company (JAOC), an international consortium drilling in the Azeri offshore petroleum sector, plan to invest some $43 million (50 million euros) this year, AFP quoted company officials as saying on Thursday.

A JAOC spokesman said the company would spend some eight million dollars more than last year, mainly on developing the group's first exploration well in the Ashtegyakh structure in the southern Caspian.

Work on the well will probably begin in September and be completed three months later. Estimated reserves are some 75-90 million tons of crude, with a potential investment of $2.3 billion, agencies reported.

The JAOC, formed in 1998, includes Japanese companies Japex (22.5 percent), Teikoku (7.5 percent), Inpex (12.5 percent), Itochu (7.5 percent) and Azerbaijan's state oil company Socar (50 percent).