Bakhtiyar Aslanbayli: BP in talks to expand its operations in Azerbaijan

BP is in talks with the Azerbaijani government, the Ministry of Energy, the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), and other government agencies on new joint projects, BP Vice President for the Caspian Region Bakhtiyar Aslanbayli said in an interview with Euronews, Report informs.

He stated that BP is proud of its contribution to the development of Azerbaijan's energy infrastructure and the country's emergence as a regional leader in the energy transition. Aslanbayli recalled that BP was one of the first international companies to enter Azerbaijan shortly after the restoration of independence, in early 1992. During this time, the company earned the government's trust and was involved in the development of two strategic assets – the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) and Shah Deniz fields.

"Looking back, the journey is truly impressive. The numbers speak for themselves: approximately 4.5 billion barrels of oil have been extracted from the ACG block, and 257 billion cubic meters of gas from the Shah Deniz field. That's more than 6,000 tankers shipped from Ceyhan to global markets. In addition to the oil and gas projects we're pursuing jointly with the government, SOCAR, and other partners, we're particularly proud of the region's new solar energy project, the Shafag solar power plant," noted Aslanbayli.

He emphasized that the 240 MW Shafag project in the Jabrayil district involves constructing a solar power plant and feeding it into the national grid. An equivalent amount of electricity will then be generated at the Sangachal terminal for its electrification.

"Looking at the entire cycle, it turns out that a company operating in the hydrocarbon sector is allocating part of its oil and gas revenues to the development of solar energy. The generated solar energy will be used to electrify the Sangachal terminal, which will reduce emissions by 50% over the future operating period. At the project's peak, the site will employ approximately 400 people. We are confident that this model can serve as a model for other initiatives," he emphasized.

Aslanbayli also noted that BP's strategy is fully aligned with Azerbaijan's decarbonization goals.

"We continue to work at mature fields-ACG and Shah Deniz. But we are also conducting discussions with the government, the Ministry of Energy, SOCAR, and other entities regarding new projects. We recently signed an agreement to develop a project to extract unconsolidated natural gas from deep reservoirs on ACG and expect the first supplies in the near future," he said, noting that BP plans to begin deep gas production in the first half of 2026.

He also mentioned the $2.9 billion project to build a compressor station at the Shah Deniz field, which will maintain maximum gas production and ensure additional supplies to global markets.

Unconsolidated gas reserves in the deep reservoirs of ACG are estimated at 4 trillion cubic feet. The first stage is planned to produce approximately 0.5 billion cubic meters of gas per year. The gas volume obtained from the first appraisal well will be sold to SOCAR.

Work on the Shah Deniz shelf will begin in the third quarter of 2026 with the installation of offshore supports and will be completed by 2029. The project plans to produce and export an additional 50 billion cubic meters of gas and 25 million barrels of condensate.

Construction of the Shafag solar power plant, costing approximately $200 million, is scheduled to begin this year and be completed by mid-2027. The project will be implemented and managed by Lightsource bp, a subsidiary of BP.