A former BP boss in Aberdeen has been appointed as its regional head in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey (AGT).
Gordon Birrell will replace Rashid Javanshir following criticism from Azerbaijan’s leadership over declining oil output.
Mr Birrell, who holds a senior post in BP’s production division, will take the position from the middle of this month. Mr Javanshir has been appointed to a top post in the company’sLondon office.
Mr Birrell was business unit leader for BP’s mature producing fields in the North Sea from January 2005 to August 2006. The company, which operates the giant Azer-Chirag-Guneshli oil fields, has come under fire from Azeri president Ilham Aliyev, who accused the UK group of making false promises on output. BP was slated to produce 1million barrels per day (bpd) as early as 2008. Output from ACG went down from 823,000bpd in 2010, but has since slumped to 684,000bpd in the first half of this year.