An oil platform off the Caspian sea coast near Baku
Azerbaijan enjoys rare upstream FID
BP and partners have reached a $2.9b FID on a new phase at Shah Deniz, but slow progress on other gas projects is attributed to a lack of European support
BP and its partners greenlit a $2.9b compressor project at the giant offshore Shah Deniz gas field at the start of June, marking the first FID on an upstream development in Azerbaijan since 2018. The approval is a boon for the country’s oil and gas sector, generating fresh contracts, jobs and state revenue. Yet, the six-year dearth of FIDs means Azerbaijan will fail to ramp up gas exports to the EU to 20bcm/yr by 2027—as targeted in a memorandum the government signed with the European Commission in May 2022. Baku has repeatedly attributed the lack of new investment to insufficient financial backing from European banks and a reluctance among EU gas buyers to commit to long-term supply contrac
Also in this section
13 March 2026
Brussels is again weighing a cap on gas prices amid the Hormuz crisis, but the measure could backfire by deterring the LNG cargoes Europe urgently needs
12 March 2026
Emergency oil stocks provide a last line of defence to oil market shocks, so the IEA’s unprecedented 400m bl release represents something of a double-edged sword
12 March 2026
LPG could rapidly expand access to clean cooking across Africa and prevent hundreds of thousands of deaths from indoor air pollution each year, but infrastructure shortages and regulatory barriers are slowing investment and market growth
11 March 2026
Missiles over Dubai and disruption in Hormuz are testing the emirate’s reputation—and shaking the energy hub at the centre of the Gulf economy
