Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 14
By Gulgiz Muradova – Trend:
The technology being developed in Azerbaijan to extract gas from the Shah Deniz II field will be used elsewhere, including to get at hydrocarbons in the Gulf of Mexico.
U.S. Ambassador Robert F. Cekuta made the remark while addressing the Fifth Frankfurt Gas Forum on Dec.14.
Ambassador Cekuta said that the discovery and development of the Shah Deniz II gas deposit makes Azerbaijan again an important contributor to European – and thus global – energy security.
Reminding that the Shah Deniz II gas will be a source for the Southern Gas Corridor Project (SGC), Ambassador Cekuta said that the SGC with a budget in excess of $40 billion, and a 3,500 km pipeline crossing six countries, going from below sea level to elevations of more than 2,500 meters, provides a new source of natural gas to millions in Europe, boosting energy security globally.
"It is one of the largest capital projects underway today in the world. It brings together the U.S. and other national governments as well as the European Union. Azerbaijan’s state oil company, SOCAR, and BP participate as shareholders in each of the project’s components," said Ambassador Cekuta.
Ambassador Cekuta stressed that despite the technical and geopolitical challenges, the project is doing well.
"Looking at the four chief components, the development of the giant Shah Deniz II gas field itself is 97% complete. The expansion of the massive Sangachal terminal south of Baku is 99.8% complete, and construction of the pipeline across Azerbaijan and Georgia is 98% complete. Construction of the Trans Anatolian Pipeline or TANAP is 93% finished and work on the Southern Gas Corridor project’s fourth component, the Trans Adriatic Pipeline TAP, which will initially bring 10 bcma of gas to Italy, is 57 percent complete. The companies report first gas to customers in Georgia and Turkey looks to be on schedule for 2018 via SCP and TANAP, with delivery of gas to Italy scheduled for 2020 via TAP," said Ambassador Cekuta.
Ambassador Cekuta stressed that with the Shah Deniz II field soon coming on line and the first gas expected in 2018, we are hopefully on the verge of an important success -- one which will strengthen regional and global energy security.
As part of the Shah Deniz II project, gas production will increase from 9 to 25 billion cubic meters per year. The produced gas will be exported to Turkey and the European markets through the expansion of the South Caucasus Pipeline and the construction of the Trans-Anatolian (TANAP) and Trans-Adriatic (TAP) gas pipelines.
A 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.