“I am proud to say that at these exceptionally challenging times and under these unprecedently difficult conditions we have tried to do all we can so that our people are safe and healthy and, secondly, our operations run smoothly, safely and in an uninterrupted way. We all know perfectly well what uninterrupted production and export of oil and gas mean for the country and the region in such difficult times,” he said.
Aslanbayli pointed out that BP continues to drill its first exploration well on the Shafag-Asiman block and intends to complete it by the end of this year.
“We also plan to start drilling the first exploration well in shallow water Absheron as soon as the upgrade of the drilling rig is completed. We hope that this will also be possible by the end of this year. As you are aware. we completed our first 3D seismic survey programme on D230 earlier this year, and now we intend to accelerate the processing and interpretation of the acquired data using our supercomputer in Houston,” he said.
BP’s vice-president went on to add that the construction of ACE (Azeri Central East) – the new platform for Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli is also continuing.
Despite the impacts of the pandemic on the construction activities, the company’s plans for the first ACE oil in 2023 remain unchanged, he noted.
“Taking this opportunity, I would like to recognize all our people at all of our sites both offshore and onshore who are demonstrating a great sense of responsibility and commitment, working day and night and longer hours, away from their families, and having to spend 7-14 days in quarantine before entering the site, and at the site working and living in strict compliance with the health, safety and social distancing rules. And all this is for one sole purpose that oil and gas production and exports run uninterrupted every single day,” Aslanbayli added.
BP’s vice-president expressed gratitude to the Azerbaijani leadership for the support amid restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“On behalf of bp, I would like to express our huge thanks to the country's leadership, the Operational Headquarters under the Cabinet of Ministers, all government agencies, embassies and other organizations for giving us prompt and timely support in countless situations we would never have coped with on our own in such difficult times as these when the borders are closed. We have needed support for the entry and exit of some of our expatriate staff and contractors involved in critical operations, for the organization of charter flights for them, permits and visas, the allocation of special locations for quarantine after their entry into the country, the delivery of critical equipment and materials. Without their support and close assistance, we would never have been able to continue our production and export operations uninterruptedly and efficiently under these unprecedented circumstances,” he said.
Aslanbayli, who has recently been appointed as BP vice-president for communications and advocacy for Middle East and Caspian, noted that BP will continue its efforts to optimize its learning and development programmes in Azerbaijan.
“Azerbaijan has always boasted, and rightfully so, with its high quality oil and gas industry engineers, professionals and workforce. BP has been lucky to have direct access to the pool of highly educated and experienced industry professionals who since mid-2018 have made 90 percent of BP Azerbaijan’s professional staff. Many of these are in senior leadership positions including members of the Regional Leadership Team. In addition, a large group of Azerbaijani nationals have overseas assignments working for bp’s global businesses and many of them are business leaders or senior managers who have leadership roles in bp’s offices worldwide. Development of national employees within the company as well as support for various educational programmes at local engineering universities have been among bp’s priorities. BP will continue its efforts to optimize its learning and development programmes and will actively participate in public and private sector initiatives contributing to the development of the local talent market. This remains to be part of our commitment to the country,” he said.
