Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 21 /Trend E. Ismailov /
Some $3 billion has already spent as part of second stage of development of Azerbaijani Shah Deniz gas and condensate field, Head of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR), Rovnag Abdullayev told journalists on Monday.
According to him, the works within the framework of the project are continuing, and in late 2013 it is expected to make a final investment decision.
In late June the Shah Deniz Consortium selected Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) as the route to transport its gas to European markets. The gas that will be produced as part of the second phase of the field's development will be the main source for the TAP.
The final investment decision on Shah Deniz 2 project is planned to be taken in late 2013. The first gas supplies to Turkey as part of this project will start in 2018, and to Europe in 2019.
TAP is designed to transport gas from the Caspian region via Greece and Albania and across the Adriatic Sea to southern Italy and then to Western Europe.
The initial capacity of the TAP pipeline will be 10 billion cubic meters per year with the possibility of expanding to 20 billion cubic meters per year.
The reserves of the Shah Deniz field are estimated at 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas. The contract for development of the Shah Deniz offshore field was signed in June 1996.
The agreement's participants are: BP (operator) - 25.5 percent, Statoil - 25.5 percent, NICO - 10 percent, Total - 10 percent, Lukoil - 10 percent, TPAO - nine percent, SOCAR - 10 percent.