BP as the operator of Azerbaijan’s major oil and gas development and transportation projects on behalf of its partners has recently awarded another major contract to a local Azerbaijani service company.
RT Services Ltd has been selected from among 26 participants (18 of them local companies and joint ventures with local business partners) in four-month pre-qualification and tendering exercises conducted by BP for a hazardous liquid waste treatment services contract.
This is BP’s first direct contract with RT Services, whose previous experience of joint work with us has been through subcontracting arrangements. The contract duration is one year with a total value of up to $900,000. This new contract is in line with BP’s and its partners’ efforts to maximize local content in their projects through increasing both the number of companies participating in their contracts, and the value of contracts awarded locally.
RT Services Ltd. was founded in 2002 to provide waste management services to both local and foreign companies based in the Caspian region including Azerbaijan. The company is fully licensed by the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources to provide industrial wastes (including toxic wastes) utilization services.
“We are very pleased to have this opportunity to work with another specialised local service provider. RT Services Ltd is an experienced company holding all necessary licenses to meet our requirements for providing waste management services to the acceptable standards,” says Namig Abbasov, BP’s Regional Environmental Compliance Manager.
“We are looking forward to our joint work with RT Services, which we believe will considerably add to their experience of work with foreign companies, as well as to their standards and skills to compete for new contracts in both local and international service markets.”
Notes to Editors:
BP as the operator of Azerbaijan’s major oil and gas development and transportation projects on behalf of its partners has set an ambitious new target to double the value of contracts placed with Azerbaijan-owned companies within five years. By 2010 BP aims to spend an additional $250million annually with small and medium-sized enterprises and local joint ventures, bringing the total spend with locally-owned companies to over $500million a year.
To reach this target, BP and its partners have opened the Enterprise Centre in Baku to support local companies and encourage their participation in BP projects. BP and its partners are working to develop a number of other plans as well to encourage the non-oil sector and support enterprise development throughout Azerbaijan to assist the country in diversifying its economy. It is believed that this along with other initiatives, will create innovative and transparent practices of support to local businesses.
Tamam Bayatly at BP’s Press Office in Baku, telephone: 994 (0) 12 599 4557