LONDON (AP) — BP's new chief executive Bob Dudley signed a deal with Azerbaijan's state oil company yesterday to develop a major new gas field in the Caspian Sea — his first big move since taking over the top job this month.

Azerbaijan is one of the British company's key targets as it seeks to build up businesses outside the United States, where its operations have been under pressure in the wake of the Gulf oil spill.

The 50-50 joint venture with the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan, or SOCAR, gives BP access to unexplored waters in the Shafag-Asiman field. SOCAR estimates the field has gas reserves of 17,000 billion cubic feet.

That would put the field, which lies 78 miles southeast of the capital of Baku, on par with the country's current largest natural gas field, Shah Deniz, which pumped about 700 million cubic feet of gas and 42,700 barrels of gas condensate a day in the first half of the year. BP has a 25 percent stake in that prospect.

"This is an important day for Azerbaijan and BP as it marks the beginning of our bilateral cooperation in exploration and development of a new offshore block," Dudley said at an event in Baku. "With SOCAR and our partners BP has helped to establish Azerbaijan as a world scale oil and gas producer, and I believe the significant remaining potential will continue to make it relevant for decades to come."

BP did not disclose financial terms of the contract, which will last for 30 years. It will be the operator of the project, searching for gas in waters 2,100-2,600 feet deep.

BP's blown out Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico was was about a mile (5,280 feet) deep.