BP Plc and its partners just spent $28 billion bringing a giant natural gas project in Azerbaijan online, and that may only be the start, Trend reports citing Gary Jones, BP’s regional president for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey.
The British oil major intends to drill six new exploration wells in the country by 2020, Jones told Bloomberg.
If his expectations are met, the company could find a new gas play that’s about the same size as Shah Deniz, according to the report.
“Alongside Brazil, Azerbaijan stands out in terms of the areas of focus for the next few years,” Jones said in a phone interview. “It’s a very significant exploration program for us, which demonstrates the confidence and the role that we see in the Caspian.
BP is targeting the Shafag-Asiman area, which could be a similar size to Shah Deniz 2, with drilling scheduled later this year, as well as a prospect below the existing Shah Deniz development, where it will drill in 2020, Jones said.
Jones said capital spending decisions haven’t yet been affected by a decline in oil prices late in the year, though it renewed BP’s focus on finding out whether there are more big fields in Azerbaijan.
Upon completion, the Shah Deniz 2 project will add a further 16 bcm of natural gas per annum to 10.9 bcma (maximum production capacity) already produced under Shah Deniz 1 project.
