bp increases spending on Azerbaijan’s ACG, Shah Deniz fields in 2025

bp and its partners increased investment in Azerbaijan’s major offshore energy projects in 2025, with higher overall spending reported for both the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) oil field and the Shah Deniz gas field, according to bp’s 2025 results report.

Total expenditure on the ACG field reached $1.852 billion in 2025, marking a 1.3% increase, or $24 million, compared with 2024, Caliber.Az reports. 

Within the ACG cost structure, operating expenses rose by 5.4% to $564 million, up $29 million year-on-year. Meanwhile, capital expenditures slightly declined by 0.4% to $1.288 billion, a decrease of $5 million compared with the previous year.

The ACG field remains Azerbaijan’s largest oil block and a cornerstone of the country’s energy sector. The initial production sharing agreement (PSA) for the development of the block was signed on September 20, 1994. A revised agreement extending joint development and production sharing through the end of 2049 was signed on September 14, 2017.

The ownership structure of ACG includes SOCAR with a 31.65% stake, bp with 30.37%, MOL with 9.57%, INPEX with 9.31%, ExxonMobil with 6.79%, TPAO with 5.73%, ITOCHU with 3.65%, and ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) with 2.92%.

Spending growth was more pronounced at the Shah Deniz gas and condensate field. Total expenditure there rose to $3.402 billion in 2025, an increase of 14.6%, or $433 million, compared with 2024.

Operating expenses at Shah Deniz climbed 5.1% to $2.315 billion, up $112 million year-on-year. Capital expenditures surged 41.9% to $1.087 billion, an increase of $321 million. The company noted that most of the capital spending was related to the Shah Deniz 2 project.

Shah Deniz is an offshore gas-condensate field located in the southwestern Caspian Sea, approximately 70 kilometers southeast of Baku. The development contract for the field was signed in Baku on June 4, 1996.

The shareholder structure of Shah Deniz comprises bp as operator with a 29.99% stake, LUKOIL with 19.99%, TPAO with 19%, Southern Gas Corridor with 16.02%, NIKO with 10%, and MVM with 5%.

By Sabina Mammadli