BP plans August maintenance at Azerbaijan's Central Azeri platform

BP plans to carry out scheduled maintenance at the Central Azeri platform for 11 days in August 2026, the company's regional president for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey Giovanni Cristofoli said.

The shutdown will affect only the platform’s gas infrastructure, while oil production will continue, he added. He said the maintenance typically lasts 19 days, with the shorter outage possible through the use of new technologies.

BP is the largest foreign investor in Azerbaijan's oil and gas sector and operator of key projects in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea.

The company operates Azerbaijan's largest oil and gas projects, including the Azeri–Chirag–Gunashli oil field, the Shah Deniz gas condensate field, and the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline and the Southern Gas Corridor.

It is also involved in several exploration and development projects offshore Azerbaijan.

Cristofoli also said the group was in talks with Azerbaijani state oil company SOCAR about possible cooperation on the Ustyurt project in Uzbekistan.

"SOCAR has already begun seismic exploration. At this stage I cannot make any formal announcements, but I can confirm that we are actively cooperating with SOCAR and working towards reaching an agreement," he said.

SOCAR holds a 50 per cent stake in the project.

The Ustyurt project is located on the Ustyurt Plateau in western Uzbekistan and is considered a promising area for hydrocarbon exploration.

(Reporting by Nailia Bagirova; Editing by Jan Harvey)