Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan. 22 / Trend S.Aliyev /
Azerbaijan's gas production in 2011 is projected at 28 billion cubic meters compared to 26.23 billion in 2010, a source in the country's oil and gas market said on Saturday.
The bulk volume of production - more than 11.6 billion cubic meters of gas is expected to be produced from the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli fields. But this is associated gas, much of which is pumped back into the bed to maintain the intrastratal pressure.
About 7.2 billion cubic meters of gas will be accounted for SOCAR's fields, which the company develops independently.
It is expected to produce 9.1 billion cubic meters of gas in 2011 under the project on developing the Shah Deniz field. Achieve of the target will mostly depend on the selection of gas by Turkey.
In 2011, it is expected to export 6.23 billion cubic meters of gas from the Shah Deniz field to Turkey via the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline, Georgia - 740 million cubic meters. Azerbaijan will receive 1.8 billion cubic meters from Shah Deniz.
The reserves of the Shah Deniz field are estimated at 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas.
The contract to develop Shah Deniz was signed June 4, 1996. Participants are BP (operator) - 25.5 percent, Statoil Hydro - 25.5 percent, NICO - 10 percent, Total - 10 percent, LukAgip - 10 percent, TPAO - 9 percent, and the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) - 10 percent.
The length of the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum pipeline (South Caucasus Pipeline) is more than 700 kilometers. Power flow is more than 20 billion cubic meters of gas a year. Gas produced at gas-condensate field Shah Deniz in Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea is transported through this pipeline. Gas is supplied to Georgia and Turkey. Azerbaijan also buys gas.