The United States extended a license allowing BP Plc to use a workaround to handle payments involving sanctioned Iranian and Russian partners in a major gas project in Azerbaijan.
The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control granted the licenses to cover BP's partnership with sanctioned partners in Azerbaijan's largest gas field, Shah Deniz.
The license extension allows BP to continue using arrangements that route payments through Azerbaijan's state energy company, SOCAR, to cover shares of costs for sanctioned partners, including Iran's NICO and Russia's Lukoil.
Project participants include BP (operator - 29.99%), Southern Gas Corridor (16.02%), Lukoil (19.99%), TPAO (19%), MVM (5%), and NICO (10%).
