Baku, Azerbaijan, May 30
By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend:
BP has been in the Caspian region for 27 years. Over that time we have worked closely with stake holders and our partners to successfully deliver what we believe are truly world class projects, Gary Jones, BP’s Regional President for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey said.
He made the remarks during the Caspian Oil Conference on 30 May 2019 in Baku, Trend reports via press office of BP.
Jones noted that one of these projects - Azeri–Chirag–Gunashli, marks its 25th anniversary this year.
In Azeri–Chirag–Gunashli, based on that track record of success, in September 2017 BP extended the PSA till mid-century. Under the extended PSA BP’s job is to maximize the effectiveness of recovery in order to minimize the natural decline.
As a step forward, the Azeri–Chirag–Gunashli partnership recently sanctioned the Azeri-Central-East (ACE)project, which is a $6 billion development project that includes a new offshore platform and facilities designed to process up to 100,000 barrels of oil per day.
The project is expected to achieve first production in 2023 and produce up to 300 million barrels over its lifetime.
In Shah Deniz, BP will continue with the Shah Deniz Two development, one of the largest gas development projects in the world.
Since mid-last year, the project has been delivering gas to the regional markets via the expanded South Caucasus Pipeline in Azerbaijan and Georgia, and Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline in Turkey.
Work on Trans Adriatic Pipeline is nearing conclusion and on track to deliver first gas to Europe next year.
Together with SOCAR, BP has already identified some exciting opportunities to look for additional oil and gas resources in the Caspian.
“Firstly, it is our plans for Shafag-Asiman. We expect to commence first exploration drilling on this PSA area later this year. Shafag-Asiman is a large gas and condensate prospect. We believe, if we are successful, potentially, it can be another Shah Deniz in scale,” he said.
“And then, there’s the Shallow Water Area around the Absheron Peninsula, which is an advantaged oil position. We have already completed seismic in the area and plan to drill three exploration wells on the selected three prospective sites over the next two years,” he added.
SWAP is considered advantaged oil due to its lower costs and proximity to local infrastructure.
Block D230 is another exploration play for BP in the Caspian. This block is a large advantaged oil opportunity to the North of Azeri–Chirag–Gunashli. BP and SOCAR signed a 25-year PSA for the joint exploration and development of the area in 2018. BP plans to shoot seismic in the area this year to identify potential exploration targets and if successful could result in a well be drilled as early as next year.
“There’s also great future for Shah Deniz. We are planning some exploration activity next year to appraise the Shah Deniz Deep prospect. It is an advantaged gas prospect beneath the existing Shah Deniz development,” said Jones.
“The current trends show that the world’s need for energy is set to rise by around a third over the next two decades. But our challenge is how to meet the demand without continuing the increase in greenhouse gas emissions. This is what BP have called - the dual challenge,” he added.
Meeting this challenge and supporting the Paris goals to reduce emissions by half by 2040, underpins everything BP does.
Renewables are expected to remain the fastest growing form of energy in the world as the energy mix is shifting towards lower carbon sources.
Over the next two decades, renewables could account for half the growth in global energy supplies.
Globally, BP has significant development and operating experience in the renewables sector and has a great deal of experience to share across the region.
To explore potential opportunities for the development of renewable energy in Azerbaijan, BP signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Energy of Azerbaijan last December.
“So, we are in the process of assessment to see what the country will need to develop this sector and to make this attractive for investment. We welcome the announcements by the Government of Azerbaijan to develop a regulatory framework for renewables. It's another example of forward thinking by the government to diversify the energy sector even though the country has huge resources of oil and gas,” he added.
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