BAKU, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Azeri state energy firm SOCAR andits partners in the Shah Deniz II consortium agreed to extendterms for the Shah Deniz II natural gas project by 13 years, upto 2048, BP Azerbaijan and the consortium said in a newsrelease.
"The Shah Deniz partners have agreed to undertakeexploration and appraisal work on prospects within theproduction sharing agreement area," it said on Tuesday.
"I am particularly pleased that we have agreed terms forextending the Shah Deniz Production Sharing Agreement up to2048. This enables BP and our partners to work in partnershipwith Azerbaijan in appraising future stages of Shah Deniz," BobDudley, BP's Group Chief Executive, said.
Backers of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz II gas project signed afinal investment decision on Tuesday, with a view to pumpingnatural gas to Europe from 2019.