Russia’s Lukoil joining BP’s exploration project in Caspian Sea

September 29, 2021, by Nermina Kulovic

Russia’s Lukoil is entering BP’s exploration project located in the Caspian Sea offshore Azerbaijan.

On 28 September 2021, Lukoil signed an agreement on acquiring a 25 per cent participating interest in the Shallow Water Absheron Peninsula (SWAP) exploration project in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea from BP. The deal is expected to complete before the end of 2021, following its approval by the government of Azerbaijan, the Russian company said on Wednesday.

After the completion of the sale, BP will remain the operator of the project, holding a 25 per cent interest. The third party to the project is SOCAR, the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan, with a 50 per cent share.

Vagit Alekperov, Lukoil President, said: “Lukoil’s joining of the project of BP and SOCAR falls in line with both Russia’s and Azerbaijan’s national interests related to the evolvement of international cooperation in energy domain. I am convinced that all the scientific and technical resources gathered by the partners will boost the development of the prospective area in the shallow waters of the Absheron Peninsula”.

Gary Jones, BP’s regional president for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, said: “We are pleased to welcome Lukoil to the SWAP partnership, building on our successful relationship in the Shah Deniz project. We look forward to working closely with them and SOCAR on the exploration work programme, which, if successful, will deliver value to Azerbaijan and to our partnership”.