BP moves to explore Azerbaijan

BAKU, May 26, 2016 – BP and State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) agreed to explore Block D230 in Azerbaijan’s North Absheron Basin on Wednesday.

The memorandum of understanding was signed by Rovnag Abdullayev, president of SOCAR, and Gorden Birrell, BP’s regional president for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, giving the super-major exclusive rights to negotiate contracts and operate in the area.

The unexplored offshore block sits in the Caspian Sea at water depths of 300 metres, with reservoir depths of 3,000-5,000 metres.

The move follows Azerbaijan’s goal of exploring all of its offshore potential. The country plans to produce 300 million barrels of oil and 29 bcm (1.02 tcf) of gas this year. In 2015, production hit 306 million barrels of oil and 29.7 bcm (1.05 tcf) of gas.

BP is a major player in Azerbaijan, with two large ongoing operations on the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli oilfield and the offshore Shah Deniz gasfield.

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