US majors’ planned Caspian exit puts Baku in a bind
Azerbaijan may find it much tougher to find investment after the departure of Chevron and ExxonMobil
The start of commercial gas deliveries to Turkey from the Shah Deniz 2 field last July imbued Azerbaijan's hydrocarbons sector with a sense of positivity. But 2018 ended on a downbeat note when reports emerged that Chevron and ExxonMobil intended to withdraw from the largest Caspian oilfield development, Azeri-Chirag-Deepwater Gunashli (ACG). The planned exit of these US majors comes at a tricky time for the Azeri government. Baku needs to maintain the flow of investment into exploration and production at a time when political risk in the Caspian region is mounting. This is due, in part, to the intensified sanctions squeeze being imposed on neighbour Iran by the administration of US presiden
Also in this section
24 January 2025
Domestic companies in Nigeria and other African jurisdictions are buying assets from existing majors they view as more likely to deliver production upside under their stewardship
23 January 2025
The end of transit, though widely anticipated, leaves Europe paying a third more for gas than a year ago and greatly exposed to supply shocks
23 January 2025
The country’s government and E&P companies are leaving no stone unturned in their quest to increase domestic crude output as BP–ONGC tie-up leads the way
22 January 2025
The return of Donald Trump gives further evidence of ‘big oil’ as an investable asset, with the only question being whether anyone is really surprised
