Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08ASHGABAT537
2008-04-29 11:10:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Ashgabat
Cable title:  

TURKMENISTAN: BP INTERESTED IN OPENING AN OFFICE,

Tags:  PREL ENRG EPET TX 
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P 291110Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0702
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RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
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RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L ASHGABAT 000537 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SCA/CEN, EEB
PLEASE PASS TO USTDA DAN STEIN
ENERGY FOR EKIMOFF/THOMPSON
COMMERCE FOR HUEPER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/29/2018
TAGS: PREL ENRG EPET TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: BP INTERESTED IN OPENING AN OFFICE,
WORKING OFF-SHORE BLOCKS


Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Sylvia Reed Curran for reasons 1.4(B)
and (D).

C O N F I D E N T I A L ASHGABAT 000537

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SCA/CEN, EEB
PLEASE PASS TO USTDA DAN STEIN
ENERGY FOR EKIMOFF/THOMPSON
COMMERCE FOR HUEPER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/29/2018
TAGS: PREL ENRG EPET TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: BP INTERESTED IN OPENING AN OFFICE,
WORKING OFF-SHORE BLOCKS


Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Sylvia Reed Curran for reasons 1.4(B)
and (D).


1. (C) BP President for Business Development in Russia and
Central Asia John-Paul Stalder told the Charge April 28 that
BP is moving forward with plans to open an office in
Ashgabat. The registration process will take 3-6 months, and
BP foresees that the toughest problem will be finding
appropriate office space for the activities that BP wants to
carry out -- both technical and public affairs work. BP has
not yet decided definitively who will run the office, and
Stalder suggested that he, in fact, might be moving to
Ashgabat. Commenting on his experience with registration to
date, Stalder said merely, "Ashgabat needs to increase its
capacity if it is to support an international business
presence." Given the shortage of English-language speakers
in Turkmenistan, BP is looking at the possibility of
mobilizing Russian speakers -- including some Turkmen already
working in the company's Houston office -- to help with
operations in Turkmenistan until a core cadre of Turkmen can
be brought up to speed.


2. (C) Stalder reported that during the April 17-18 "Oil and
Gas in Turkmenistan" conference in London, Government of
Turkmenistan officials continued to leave the door open on
the possibility that they might eventually relax the ban on
foreign companies working on-shore. He suggested that
reversal of the current policy is just a matter of time.
However, unlike other major foreign oil firms, BP has no wish
to become involved on-shore. Instead, it wants to work in
Turkmenistan's off-shore Caspian blocks, since this is BP's
"specialty." Stalder was unwilling to identify which blocks
BP is looking at, but stated that "we've been asked to look
at a range of blocks, including on opposite ends of the
territory." Some of those blocks, he added, were in waters
with disputed borders, and BP is reluctant to become involved
in such areas until the borders have been resolved. In any
case, however, Stalder suggested that BP's timeline for
possible production is long-term, given the slow pace at
which Turkmenistan's bureaucracy grinds, the need to
supplement the rudimentary 2-D seismic imaging that the
Government of Turkmenistan has for the Caspian blocks with
higher-quality 3-D seismic imaging "carried out properly,"
and the difficulties associated with shipping and assembling
equipment needed for deep-water drilling.


3. (C) COMMENT: Stalder's comments that BP has been asked
to work specific blocks is intriguing because it does not (to
our knowledge) follow the pattern that the Government of
Turkmenistan has established in working with other foreign
companies. It is possible that the requests came from the
Government of Azerbaijan. Either way, however, BP seems to
be planning on building on the experience (and, possibly,
contacts) it already has accumulated in the Caspian and on
avoiding joining the fray for what many other major oil firms
have told us they consider to be the real prize -- a deal to
work on-shore in the Amu Darya gas fields. END COMMENT.
CURRAN