Baku: BP and the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) are working on the terms of BP's involvement in the development of the Karabakh oil field, Tamam Bayatly, BP's head of external communications for Azerbaijan, told journalists.

According to Azeri-Press News Agency, the company has expressed its interest in joining the Karabakh project. "We have declared our intent to join the Karabakh project. There are many technical and commercial terms that must be agreed upon and documented before we can sign and officially participate. Currently, we are working with SOCAR on this," Bayatly stated.

Notably, in September last year, BP and SOCAR signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) expressing BP's intention to join two offshore oil and gas blocks in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea. The first block is the Karabakh oil field, and the second is the Ashrafi-Dan Ulduzu-Aypara (ADUA) area.

The Karabakh field is located approximately 120 km east of Baku and 20-25 km from the Gunashli field, at a water depth of 150-200 meters. It is being developed under a Risk Service Agreement (RSA) signed in 2018 and ratified by the Azerbaijani Parliament. SOCAR currently holds a 100% stake in the RSA.

The second block, ADUA, lies 90-110 km northeast of Baku, at water depths of 80-180 meters. It includes several discovered and prospective structures. The area is governed by a Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) signed in 2018 and also ratified by the Parliament, in which SOCAR currently owns 100% interest.