BP PLC (BP) is set to sign a deal with Azerbaijan national oil company Socar on Thursday to develop a huge natural gas field in the Caspian Sea, according to a person familiar with the matter.
BP PLC (BP) is set to sign a deal with
Azerbaijan
national oil company Socar on Thursday to develop a huge natural gas field in
the
Caspian Sea
, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The field, Shafag-Asiman, which is about 125 km south-east of the Azeri capital
Baku
, has estimated reserves of 17 trillion cubic feet,
according to Socar. That would make it almost as large as
Azerbaijan
's
massive Shah Deniz gas field, in which BP also has a stake.
Under the deal, a 50-50 production-sharing agreement, BP will carry all
exploration costs. It would further cement BP's position as one of the largest
foreign investors in
Azerbaijan
, an
oil-rich former Soviet republic. BP is operator of the huge ACG oilfield in the
Caspian, and of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline which brings Azeri oil to
Turkey
's
Mediterranean coast.
The deal will be signed by Bob Dudley, BP's new chief executive, who is currently
visiting the company's operations in
Azerbaijan
along
with his predecessor in the job, Tony Hayward. Socar couldn't immediately be
reached for comment.
The Shafag-Asiman contract shows that, however badly BP's reputation in the
U.S.
was
damaged by the Deepwater Horizon disaster, it hasn't impaired the company's
ability to strike big deals in its traditional heartlands.
Developing the field could reinforce
Azerbaijan
's
role as a rising gas exporter. It is currently in talks to sell gas from the second
phase of production from Shah Deniz with a number of buyers, including the
Nabucco consortium which wants to pump Azeri gas through a pipeline across
Turkey
and
into
Europe
.
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