The Azerbaijan government and the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) have signed an agreement with BP-led partners for the Azeri, Chirag, and deepwater Gunashli field (ACG) in the Caspian Sea.
The amended and restated agreement has been signed by both the parties on the joint development and production sharing (PSA) for the ACG oilfield.
The deal, if ratified by the Parliament of the Republic of Azerbaijan, will remain effective until the end of 2049.
Under the extended ACG PSA, BP will remain the operator of the field. The new agreement will enable SOCAR to increase its stake in the field from 11.65% to 25%.
BP’s partners in the oilfield include Statoil, Chevron, INPEX, ExxonMobil, TPAO, ITOCHU and ONGC Videsh.
As part of the agreement, the participating interest of all partners will also be revised, with BP holding 30.37% stake. Chevron and Statoil will own a stake of 9.57% and 7.27% respectively.
The ACG oil field is estimated to have a potential for investment of over $40bn during the next 32 years.
BP group chief executive Bob Dudley said: “Over the past 23 years the Contract of the Century has truly transformed Azerbaijan, energy supplies to Europe and all of us who have worked so hard to make it a success.
“Today’s contract is perhaps an even more important milestone in the history of Azerbaijan as it ensures that over the next 32 years we will continue to work together to unlock the long-term development potential of ACG through new investments, new technologies and new joint efforts to maximise recovery.”
As part of the agreement, SOCAR and its co-venturers will advance the engineering development work to weigh an additional production platform in the ACG contract area.
Image: The Central Azeri Platform. Photo courtesy of Stuart Conway / BP.