Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 21
By Emil Ismayilov - Trend:
All the works as part of the Stage 2 of development of the Shah Deniz gas and condensate field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea are being conducted in line with the schedule, BP-Azerbaijan, which operates the Shah Deniz field's development, told Trend.
BP-Azerbaijan said the gas supplies within the Shah Deniz-2 to Georgia and Turkey will begin in late 2018, as it was planned, and after about a year, that is, by early 2020, Azerbaijan's gas will flow to Europe.
"All the works within the project are being carried out in accordance with the schedule without any delays," BP-Azerbaijan noted.
The annual gas production as part of the Shah Deniz project will rise from nine billion cubic meters (in the first stage) by additional 16 billion cubic meters in the second phase.
Two offshore platforms will be installed and over 20 subsea wells will be drilled for production of additional gas within the Shah Deniz-2 project.
The gas to be produced as part of the second stage of the field's development will be exported to Turkey (six billion cubic meters per year) and to the European markets (10 billion cubic meters per year) by means of expansion of the South Caucasus Pipeline and construction of the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) and Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP).
Shah Deniz's reserves are estimated at 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas. The contract for the development the Shah Deniz offshore field was signed June 4, 1996.
In 2013, some 9.8 billion cubic meters of gas and 2.48 million metric tons of condensate (19.6 million barrels) were produced at Shah Deniz, as compared to 7.73 billion cubic meters of gas and two million metric tons of condensate in 2012.
The share distribution among the agreement parties (after SOCAR's and BP's acquisition of Statoil's share in the project) is as follows: BP (operator) - 28.8 percent, Statoil - 15.5 percent, NICO - 10 percent, Total - 10 percent, Lukoil - 10 percent, TPAO - nine percent, and SOCAR - 16.7 percent.
Earlier, Total sold its share in the project to the Turkish company TPAO, and after completion of the deal the latter's share in the project will be 19 percent.
The Norwegian Statoil sold a 15.5 percent share in the project to the Malaysian company Petronas. The deal for purchase and sale of shares is not yet complete.
Edited by SI