British energy giant BP is highly optimistic about discovering oil and gas reserves in the northeastern region of the Ustyurt Plateau. Michael Fiedler, BP's Business Development Director, shared these insights during an interview with the "Uzbekistan 24" TV channel on the sidelines of the Tashkent International Investment Forum.
According to Fiedler, BP is working in tight coordination with the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), which is serving as the project operator, alongside the state-owned enterprise Uzbekneftegaz.
"I sincerely hope that we will discover substantial oil and gas deposits here. At the invitation of the President, we are working closely with Azerbaijan's state oil company, SOCAR. They are acting as the operator, while we are spearheading exploration operations in the northeast of the Ustyurt Plateau. We are also collaborating very closely with Uzbekneftegaz," Fiedler stated.
"In Azerbaijan, we have been partnering with SOCAR for 30 years, during which we successfully developed two of the largest fields on the planet—one oil and one gas. They truly rank among the world's absolute largest reservoirs," the BP representative noted.
While the company is in the initial phases of capital deployment in Uzbekistan and is keeping specific commercial arrangements confidential for now, the preliminary work is well underway.
"We are committing significant resources, beginning with seismic data collection. In tandem with the operator SOCAR, we have completed a seismic survey spanning an area of 3,000 square kilometers. This represents our baseline investment. From there, we analyze the data to determine the presence of hydrocarbons before advancing to the exploratory drilling stage. Drilling demands exponentially higher capital. We remain hopeful about striking oil and gas, and that is when we will begin discussing major financial figures," he explained.
On June 15, Uzbekneftegaz announced a high-level meeting between its Chairman of the Board, Abdugani Sanginov, and BP’s Business Development Director, Michael Fiedler. During the talks, both parties reviewed the current progress and future outlook of their joint ventures in the Ustyurt region, which are being executed under a Production Sharing Agreement (PSA).
The discussions placed particular emphasis on the trajectory of exploration activities, accelerating the interpretation of newly acquired geophysical data, and setting a firm timeline to commence exploratory well drilling before the end of 2026.
The Ministry of Energy, the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), and Uzbekneftegaz officially signed the five-year Production Sharing Agreement on July 24, 2025. The framework mandates comprehensive geological exploration and subsequent hydrocarbon extraction across strategic investment blocks within the Ustyurt oil and gas basin.
Under the terms of the agreement, the preliminary exploration phase—which includes drilling at least one exploratory well—is scheduled for completion within the five-year window. Throughout this duration, SOCAR is designated to serve as the project operator.
The geographical scope of the PSA encompasses the Boyterak, Terengkuduk, Birkori, Kharoy, Karakalpak, and Kulboy blocks, all situated within the Ustyurt region of Karakalpakstan. The venture is being jointly executed by Uzbekneftegaz and SOCAR.
In a major development in May of this year, BP formally entered the consortium by acquiring a cumulative 40% equity stake in the PSA, purchasing 20% from each of the founding partners, SOCAR and Uzbekneftegaz. Following BP's entry, the restructured equity distribution stands as follows: BP holds 40%, Uzbekneftegaz retains 30%, and SOCAR holds 30% while continuing to act as the technical operator.
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