The Ustyurt Plateau lies along the Uzbek-Kazakh border like a gigantic geological whispering, dry, barely investigated, and holding the sort of sub-surface secrets that drive upstream companies to be at once apprehensive and intrigued. Wednesday, on the sidelines of the Oil and Gas of Uzbekistan Conference 2026, in Tashkent, bp made up its mind to quell its apprehensions. The London-headquartered international major inked an agreement to develop six blocks in Uzbekistan's North Ustyurt province, securing a 40% participating interest against current partners SOCAR and Uzbekneftegaz. This deal marked bp’s first upstream venture in Central Asia, outside its traditional Caspian assets. Signing the agreement alongside the Minister for Energy of Uzbekistan, the Chairman of Uzbekneftegaz and the President of SOCAR, Rovshan Najaf, was Gio Cristofoli, bp's regional president for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Türkiye. The target date for the first exploration well, a crucial event for the project's future, is projected for 2027. The one thing common to all six blocks is that there have been very few drilling activities conducted in each of them. That, in terms of frontier exploration, is both an omen and an opportunity.

Deal structure, as it stands:

bp (40%) - As the largest single shareholder, bp acts as a technical and financial partner. They provide deep-water and frontier exploration technology, seismic interpretation capabilities, and have a strong balance sheet to fund exploration programs. Additionally, bp has global offtake relationships.

SOCAR (30%) - SOCAR is the operator, responsible for day-to-day management. They have been conducting seismic activities across the license area since the production sharing agreement (PSA) was signed in July 2025. SOCAR brings regional geological expertise, access to Caspian operational infrastructure, and a diplomatic channel between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan.

Uzbekneftegaz (30%) - As the state partner and sovereign license holder, Uzbekneftegaz offers regulatory........

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