BP names new executive in charge of major Azeri gas project

TBILISI, April 3 (Reuters) - British oil major BP announced the appointment of Joe Murphy as a new vice president in charge of the Southern Corridor project, including development of the Shah Deniz II gas field in Azerbaijan.

BP (LSE: BP.L - news) , Statoil (Xetra: DNQ.DE - news) , Azeri state energy company SOCAR and other firms are developing Azerbaijan's biggest gas field as an alternative source of supply to Europe as the region tries to reduce reliance on Russian gas.

The Southern Corridor project includes development of Shah Deniz II and construction of pipelines in Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey and in Europe.

Murphy will be responsible for the project's implementation in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey as well as representing the project to European gas buyers and the European Commission, BP said in a statement on Thursday.

He replaces Al Cook, who was appointed as the head of the group chief executive office.

Shah Deniz I has been pumping gas since 2006 and has an annual production capacity of about 10 billion cubic metres (bcm).

Shah Deniz II is expected to produce 16 bcm of gas per year from around 2019, with 10 bcm earmarked for Europe and 6 bcm for Turkey. (Reporting by Margarita Antidze; Editing by)