Gary Jones: BP to commission second deep gas well at ACG in 2026

BP plans to commission a second production well for deep-gas production at the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) block of fields in May 2026, BP Regional President for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Türkiye Gary Jones said in an interview with Platts, Report informs.

According to him, the first gas from deep layers located outside the main ACG oil reservoir is expected by the end of 2025: "Recent non-associated gas finds above and below the ACG oil reservoir are also going to supplement Shah Deniz flows following an amendment to the ACG production-sharing contract in 2024.

The first non-associated gas from ACG will come on stream at the end of 2025, with a second reservoir likely on stream in May 2026, Jones said, confirming 4 Tcf of non-associated gas as the target."

"If you take Shafag-Asiman and the non-associated gas, they're two new areas of potential gas developments in the Azerbaijan Caspian for us," he said.

BP's regional president stressed that the company is seeking to increase its resource base and production volumes at existing facilities, as well as establish energy cooperation with other countries in the Caspian region.

"If you look at the Caspian in totality, then absolutely I think there's the real potential there to expand," he said.

Jones also noted the efforts of the Azerbaijani government to create a favorable investment climate, reduce costs, and remove barriers for business. At the same time, the existing infrastructure opens up real opportunities for the expansion of gas supplies from the Eastern Caspian through the territory of Azerbaijan, he added.

Jones said he had travelled to Turkmenistan several times with a view to opportunities there: "Obviously there's huge volumes of opportunity in Turkmenistan, and we would love to get involved with that, but that is really a states' conversation first."

A separate memorandum of understanding on cooperation in Uzbekistan has also been signed by BP together with SOCAR, he said, adding the two companies were "actively looking at opportunities in Uzbekistan."

On September 20, 2024, the shareholders of the ACG project signed in Baku the second annex to the current PSA of September 14, 2017, which provides for gas production from deep-lying formations of this block. According to the document, exploration, evaluation, development and production of free reserves of natural gas are envisaged at the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli block of fields.