BP elects new regional president for Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey

Oil major BP has appointed the new regional president for Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey (AGT), with effect from April 2, 2017.

BP said on Monday that Gary Jones, the current global head of drilling, completions, and wells at BP, would be the new AGT regional president, based in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Gary Jones has 30 years of experience in the field. He began his career with BP in 1981 and had held many leadership positions in drilling, operations, and projects. Jones held various engineering and technical posts in drilling and wells, working in deepwater operations in the Gulf of Mexico, the North Sea, as well as multiple drilling operations in China, Holland, Russia, Iraq, and Africa.

Jones will succeed Gordon Birrell, who has led BP’s regional business since November 2012. Birrell’s new role will be BP’s COO of production, transformation, and carbon based in the company’s headquarters in London.

He has 30-year track record of operating in the upstream. He spent the early part of his career in a variety of roles both onshore and offshore in the North Sea.

Since then, he held a variety of leadership roles, including leading exploration and appraisal projects, heading BP’s production operations in Alaska and Canada, the Upstream Executive Office, serving as a Technical Vice President of Upstream, and leading the Safety and Operational Risk Team.

Bob Dudley, BP’s Group Chief Executive, said: “Gary is an experienced global oilman, a mature business leader, and as someone who has led BP’s global wells function for many years, he brings a deep technical understanding of our operations in the Caspian. Gary has managed some of BP’s most important assets such as Rumaila and the fields in the North Sea.

“As BP celebrates its 25th anniversary in Azerbaijan it is our firm intention to continue the success of our business in the region through even closer cooperation with all our stakeholders.

“Taking this opportunity, I would like to thank Gordon for his leadership and commitment to BP’s success in Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey. He has led our business in the region for more than four years and has achieved numerous successes and milestones based on an excellent relationship and cooperation with the Government, SOCAR, and our partners.”