SOCAR And BP Sign Production Sharing Deal For Azerbaijan Exploration

(RTTNews) - SOCAR and BP Plc. (BP.L, BP_UN.TO, BP) signed a new production sharing agreement for the joint exploration and development of Block D230 in the North Absheron basin in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea.

The agreement was signed in London, in the presence of UK Prime Minister Theresa May and Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev, by Rovnag Abdullayev, President of SOCAR, and BP group chief executive Bob Dudley.

Block D230 lies some 135 kilometres (84 miles) north-east of Baku in the Caspian Sea. It covers an area of some 3,200 square kilometres and has not previously been explored. It has water depths of 400-600 metres and anticipated reservoir depths of about 3,500 metres.

Under the PSA, which is for 25 years, BP will be the operator during the exploration phase holding a 50 per cent interest while SOCAR will hold the remaining 50 per cent interest.