Reuters: Azeris to Keep BP as Core Partner for Main Gas Field

Azerbaijan will keep BP as the core partner for its biggest gas development for many more decades, a senior official said on Wednesday in a move that will boost the oil major's growth prospects and allay fears over its future in the country.

BP has been at the forefront of the Azeri oil and gas industry since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

But relations soured in 2012 when Azeri President Ilham Aliyev said BP had made "false promises" about the amount of oil it would produce from huge Azeri fields and the country was short of revenues because of lower-than-expected output.

Relations have improved since then and the new comment signals BP is poised to retain its position of a leading oil major in the Caspian Sea nation. MORE