bp eyes new opportunities in Central Asia, building on Azerbaijan experience

bp plans to leverage the experience and expertise it has accumulated in Azerbaijan to pursue new opportunities across the wider Caspian region, including Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, Kimberly Harrington, Head of International Affairs at bp America, said at the 7th Caspian Business Forum organized by the Caspian Policy Center (CPC) in New York, Caliber.Az reports per local media.

"From a bp perspective, when we look at the Caspian, we really see one of the most incredible energy success stories of our time," Harrington said.

"That is a really extraordinary success story that came together because of the compelling work of the private sector, governments, and communities to achieve a long-term shared vision together."

Harrington said bp is now seeking to build on its experience in Azerbaijan through new opportunities across the region, including projects in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.

"What makes these developments exciting is that they really build on all of the expertise, all of the experience that Azerbaijan has, all the capabilities that it has developed over the past 30 years," she said, adding that the developments demonstrate how "expertise, partnership, and infrastructure-led thinking" can unlock opportunities across the wider region.

She also stressed that the Caspian region competes with investment opportunities around the world for a finite pool of private capital. 

"Before committing any long-term capital, we look for several factors, including resilient infrastructure," Harrington said. "In an age where capital can move anywhere in the world, we're always going to look for projects that can be valuable to our shareholders and bring back reliable returns."

Claire Kaiser, Head of Strategy and Senior Managing Director, Eurasia, at McLarty Associates, said recent geopolitical shocks have both increased investor caution and highlighted the strategic importance of the Caspian region for supply-chain diversification and connectivity.

"The war in Ukraine, the war in Iran, external shocks of these magnitudes push foreign investors towards caution, necessarily so," Kaiser said. "However, they also work to underscore the urgency and importance that this region's role could really play in terms of supply chain and transit diversification, digital connectivity, and many other sectoral needs."

Kaiser said the key challenge is turning growing political and commercial interest into viable investments.

Referring to the development of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, Kaiser noted that major regional projects have historically required political vision before investment could follow.

"The vision came first; the capital followed," she said, adding that the region could draw on those lessons today.

Jamshid Ehsani, Head of Global Principal Structured Finance at Apollo Global Management, focused on opportunities in critical minerals and energy infrastructure, as well as financing structures capable of bringing major projects to fruition.

"Central Asia's vast critical mineral deposits are precisely what the Western supply chain needs for digital infrastructure, green electrification, and defense applications," Ehsani said.

He also highlighted Apollo's developing strategic partnership with the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), saying discussions are underway to finance large-scale energy projects in Azerbaijan and internationally.

Marat Birimzhan, Head of the Representative Office in the United States at Kazakh Invest, highlighted Kazakhstan's growing role in the Middle Corridor and emerging investment opportunities in critical minerals, manufacturing, transport and other sectors.

"For the last seven years, the traffic, or container shipments, of the Middle Corridor has increased by five times, and it is set to increase even further," Birimzhan said.

He also pointed to expanding commercial ties between Kazakhstan and the United States, noting that American and Kazakh companies signed $17 billion in deals at the end of last year across sectors including manufacturing, agribusiness, petrochemicals, critical minerals, transport and logistics.

Birimzhan said attracting further investment would require making projects easier for international investors to finance.

By Vafa Guliyeva