By Dimitrios Kontos

BP PLC (BP.LN) has signed a production-sharing agreement with the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic, or SOCAR, for the exploration and development of Block D230 in the Caspian Sea, SOCAR said Thursday.

BP will hold a 50% stake and be the operator during the exploration phase, while SOCAR will hold the remaining 50%.

"We have now been operating in the region for more than 25 years and believe there is still significant oil-and-gas potential there," said BP Chief Executive Bob Dudley.

The agreement was signed by Mr. Dudley and SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev in London, in the presence of U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May and Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev, SOCAR said.

Block D230 lies some 135 kilometers north-east of Baku in the Caspian Sea. It covers an area of about 3,200 square kilometers and has not previously been explored. It has depths of 400-600 meters and anticipated reservoir depths of about 3,500 meters.

Write to Dimitrios Kontos at dimitrios.kontos@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 26, 2018 12:24 ET (16:24 GMT)

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