ECONOMY
BP prepares draft Environmental and Socio-economic Impact Assessment document for Shallow Water Absheron Peninsula exploration drilling project
Baku, September 10, AZERTAC
BP, as the operator of the agreement on the exploration, development and production sharing for the Shallow Water Area around the Absheron Peninsula in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea (SWAP) announces that as part of its work programme the draft Environmental and Socio-economic Impact Assessment (ESIA) document for SWAP exploration drilling activities has been produced and published by BP on behalf of the contractor parties.
The ESIA document has been prepared for the exploration drilling phase of the SWAP contract. It examines the potential environmental and socio-economic impacts of the exploration drilling activities and describes the recommended mitigation measures. The ESIA process aims to ensure that any adverse environmental and socio-economic impacts arising from the proposed works are identified and minimised, and, where possible, eliminated.
Three prospective areas have been identified within the SWAP contract area for exploration drilling and it is planned to drill one exploration well in each area – three wells in total. This document focuses specifically on the first exploration well to be located within the North East prospective area approximately 15 km from the mainland in a water depth of approximately 22m with potential hydrocarbons approximately 2,500m below the seabed surface.
Exploration drilling activities at the other two well locations will be covered in separate addenda documents.
Consultation with stakeholders is an important element of the ESIA process. Listening to and documenting the opinions of interested parties ensures that the project design and the ESIA reflect the collective views of key stakeholders.
The full draft ESIA document and the Executive Summary have been produced in Azerbaijani and English and are available on bp’s website at:
You are requested to send us your comments and feedback on the draft ESIA via the following ways of communication:
- by email sending the filled feedback forms to [email protected]
- by post sending the filled feedback forms to: BP Xazar Centre, 153 Neftchiler av., Port Baku, AZ1010
The ESIA disclosure period is 60 days. It started on 28 August 2020 and will end on 2 November 2020.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic we will not be able to place copies of the ESIA document in public libraries as we usually did in the past. However, public libraries, institutions and universities are welcome to download the ESIA document from the bp website link above and disseminate it via their own online resources.
We look forward to hearing your views and opinions on the draft ESIA. Please contact BP’s Regulations and Permitting Team Leader Saadat Gaffarova if you have any questions: tel.: (012) 599 43 29 or (055) 2259013
