Baku, Azerbaijan, March 29
By Maksim Tsurkov - Trend:
Asian Development Bank (ADB) will consider the possibility of allocation of loan worth $450 million for the second phase of development of Azerbaijan's largest Shah Deniz gas field.
This issue is just at its first phase, ADB's Baku office told Trend.
"ADB's mission will visit Azerbaijan in late April or later the same year to study and discuss the project," said the Baku office. "Shah Deniz is an important project now, the loan's amount is not small, and therefore this project becomes priority."
The contract for development of the Shah Deniz offshore field was signed on June 4, 1996. The field's reserve is estimated at 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas.
The shareholders in the contract are: BP, operator (28.8 percent), AzSD (10 percent), SGC Upstream (6.7 percent), Petronas (15.5 percent), Lukoil (10 percent), NIOC (10 percent) and TPAO (19 percent).
Established in 1966, the ADB has 67 members. Azerbaijan is an ADB member since Dec. 22, 1999. The country's share in the bank's capital is 0.5 percent.
---
Follow the author on Twitter: @MaksimTsurkov