BP GROUP CEO BOB DUDLEY S SPEECH FOR A CG S 20TH A NNIVERSA RY 20 SEPTEMBER 2014

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1 BP GROUP CEO BOB DUDLEY S SPEECH FOR A CG S 20TH A NNIVERSA RY 20 SEPTEMBER 2014 Good morning Mr President, Prime Ministers and Your Excellencies, distinguished guests and colleagues. Congratulations! This is a great day for A zerbaijan and a great day for energy. What has been achieved here since 1994 is extraordinary. A nd for that I want to pay tribute to President A liyev and his government. I also pay tribute to Rovnag A bdullayev and his team at SOCA R, and to all the partners represented here today. Together we have showed what partnership can deliver. A nd we are very grateful that so many Ministers and representatives of governments have joined us today. Today is not just an anniversary of a contract. It is a landmark in the renaissance of A zerbaijan s oil industry. Earlier this year I had the privilege to speak at a gathering of the world s energy industry. I said that many people date the start of the modern industry to an oil well in Pennsylvania in But I pointed out that a well was successfully completed here in A zerbaijan as early as So A zerbaijan, the land of fire, was truly the cradle of the oil and gas industry. A nd in 1994 the nation witnessed the rebirth of that industry. The agreement signed then was rightly called the contract of the century. Eleven companies from six different countries joined together with SOCA R to launch a new phase in the country s energy journey. 1

2 A nd what a journey it has been, developing A zerbaijan s offshore oil resources and conveying them to world markets via the BTC pipeline that stretches from Baku to Ceyhan. For those from other parts of the world, that is the same distance as Houston to Chicago or London to Madrid. The programme has already produced 2.5 billion barrels of oil and seen nearly $30 billion of investment. Let me give you three reasons why I believe the contract succeeded and we are here today. People The first the most important is the people involved. This has been a truly international effort involving many thousands of committed people across the world. But the bulk of the work was done right here by A zerbaijani workers. The project provided jobs for people from the Sangachal area and enabled many A zerbaijani companies to develop their capability and become suppliers to the projects. The local business infrastructure has improved. New professional skills have been learned. In particular we set up the Caspian Technical Training Centre which has now trained around 900 technicians in operations and drilling. It has been great to see this capability grow to the point that the recent West Chirag platform fabrication was fully undertaken in A zerbaijan. BP and partners have also contributed $60 million to social, environmental, cultural and sporting activities here in A zerbaijan. 2

3 We were the official partner for A zerbaijan at the London 2012 Games and we are very much looking forward to acting as official partner for the First European Games. Significance The second reason for the success of this partnership is the strategic importance of energy from A zerbaijan. The world s markets are thirsty for energy supplies and we have opened up a whole new route from a land-locked sea that is rich in natural resources. To date, over two billion barrels of oil have been carried through the BTC pipeline. A nd today we are not only looking back to celebrate the last two decades, but looking ahead to the next chapter in A zerbaijan s energy story as we start the building of the southern corridor to carry gas from the Caspian s giant Shah Deniz field to Georgia, Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, A lbania and, ultimately, Italy. A fter this ceremony President A liyev has kindly agreed to join us at the Sangachal Terminal for the official groundbreaking for the southern corridor. Together we will help to lay the first piece of pipe for the pipeline system that will eventually stretch for 3,600 kilometres around twice the length of the BTC pipeline. This is a multi-decade, $45 billion, project that will benefit millions of customers and create tens of thousands of jobs. With these projects, A zerbaijan is developing a growing role as a highly strategic supplier of oil and gas. Innovation 3

4 The third reason for the success of the A CG development is the innovation it has demonstrated. This may be an investment that builds on tradition, but it has also been ahead of its time in technology. For example, we have demonstrated what extended reach drilling can do, with one well that stretches for over 6 kilometres from the Chirag platform. We ve installed the world s first subsea water injectors. A nd new techniques have been introduced to control the sand that can interrupt the flow of oil when young sandstones are being drilled. A nd Shah Deniz Two is now poised to follow in A CG s footsteps as a pioneer of many more technologies. Conclusion Energy is a long term business which demands great care, persistence and patience. The contract we are celebrating today was signed in The early project began in The full field development was agreed in 2001 and the field became fully operational in We can now look ahead to many more years of production. A t the Shah Deniz field meanwhile we have extended the production sharing agreement up to That is really long term. We are celebrating a 20-year anniversary today. But the year 2048 will mark nothing less than the 200 th anniversary of A zerbaijan s first pioneering oil well. 4

5 Events come and go, day by day, year by year, but what endures are major projects, great technologies and the work of highly skilled and committed people. I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all these committed people who have contributed to A CG s 20 year successful journey. BP is very proud to have been a part of this long term project and I hope we will all continue to work together for many years to come. Thank you and have a great day. 5