OTHER NEWS - Sept. 20, 1994

Azerbaijan Oil Deal Near: A consortium led by British Petroleum, and including Amoco Corp. and Unocal Corp., expects to sign a landmark $7-billion deal today with the Azerbaijan state oil company Socar, which promises to open up the region to Western investment. Azerbaijan will receive about 80% of the proceeds in a production-sharing scheme over 30 years. The remainder will go to the consortium. The consortium will also make an initial bonus payment to Azerbaijan once the contract is signed and further payments as development targets are met, sources said. Two huge offshore fields in the Caspian Sea, known as Azeri and Chirag, contain an estimated 4 billion barrels of crude oil.