BP to double Azerbaijan output with $6bn project

BP HAS concluded a pact with Azerbaijan to back a $6bn (£4.6bn) project alongside its state oil company that will aim to unlock more of the vast wealth beneath the Caspian Sea.

The British oil major, which has been working in the central Asian state for a quarter of a century, will invest in an expansion of drilling in the Azeri-chiragdeepwater Gunashli oilfield complex.

Once oil begins flowing in 2023 the rig could produce as much as 100,000 barrels of oil a day, and up to 300m barrels over its lifetime. The project doubles BP’S production forecasts for Azerbaijan to more than 200,000 barrels a day, which catapults the country into the top five of its global portfolio and ahead of the UK.

Bob Dudley, BP’S chief executive, said the “remarkable” partnership with Azerbaijan had turned its oil and gas assets into “tremendous benefits” for its people. BP operates about 80pc of Azerbaijan’s oil and gas production, which makes up more than half of the country’s total revenues. It was one of the first major firms to enter Azerbaijan after the fall of the Soviet era in the Nineties.

Oil industry experts at Wood Mackenzie said the project, in which BP holds a 30pc stake, is likely to be one of the largest oil and gas investments of 2019.

Rovnag Abdullayev, president of the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan, said the investment “supports Azerbaijan’s increasing role as an energy supplier for the regional and global markets”.