BP operates AIOC with 35.8% stake while other joint venture partners include Itochu Oil Exploration (Azerbaijan) 4.3%, Socar 11.6%, Chevron 11.3%, Inpex 11.0%, Statoil 8.6%, Exxon Mobil 8%, TPAO 6.8%, and ONGC Videsh 2.7%.
Located about 100 km east of Baku, the ACG lies in water depths of between 120m and 170m and covers an area of more than 432km2.
As per the LOI, AIOC will continue the development of the super-giant field until 2050 and will add significant resource development potential to the middle of the century.
BP CEO Bob Dudley said: “It opens up an exciting opportunity to the middle of the century for us to continue this extraordinary partnership. In 1994 we set out to develop ACG in the new phase of the country’s energy journey.”
The existing ACG production sharing agreement was signed in September 1994 for 30 years.
Since beginning of production in November 1997, the field has produced more than 3 billion barrels of oil with around $33bn of investment till date.
SOCAR president Rovnag Abdullayev said: “We have been in negotiations with ACG’s foreign partners for some time.
“We will complete fully-termed agreements in the near future. ACG is known as the “Contract of the Century”.”
BP said that the LoI agrees the key commercial terms for the future development of the field and also allows the parties to sign fully-termed agreements in the next few months.
BP reegional president for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey Gordon Birrell said: “This agreement will enable future investments and projects, and will bring many thousands of jobs in the years ahead.”
Image: The ACG field off the coast of Azerbaijan has produced more than 3 billion barrels of oil till date. Photo: courtesy of ITOCHU Corporation.
