Istanbul, Turkey, Dec.6
By Abbas Akhundov - Trend:
The first gas produced during the second stage of development at the Azerbaijani gas condensate field Shah Deniz will be delivered to Turkey in 2018, president of State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) Rovnag Abdullayev said on Dec.5 at panel discussions during the Caspian Forum in Istanbul.
The first gas will be delivered to Europe in 2019, Abdullayev said.
The gas will be delivered to Greece, Italy and Albania via the Trans-Adriatic gas pipeline.
The Azerbaijani gas will become an alternative supply source for Turkey and Europe and will increase the competition in the region and in the European market.
The company's plans are not confined to opening the Southern Gas Corridor and the transportation of Shah Deniz-2 gas through it, Abdullayev said.
"We consider the gas transportation from Shah Deniz as merely the first link in this chain," the SOCAR president said.
Currently, Shah Deniz and the European Commission are jointly working on the alternative option of delivering gas to Bulgaria, the company head said.
Azerbaijan enjoys over 3 trillion cubic meters of proven gas reserves. Additionally, several exploration projects are being implemented, according to Abdullayev.
"We can confidently say that Azerbaijan's total export potential will be brought to at least 40-50 billion cubic meters of gas by 2025. We believe that the major part of this gas can be transported to European markets, Abdullayev said.
A powerful gas transportation system, consisting of three parts - the South Caucasus Gas Pipeline, Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline (TANAP) and Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), is required to supply this gas.
Abdullayev said that Azerbaijani gas will be initially transported via TANAP pipeline. In the future, gas of other manufacturers from the eastern part of the Caspian Sea will be supplied via this pipeline. After the sources and volumes of gas are increased, TAP gas pipeline will be expanded and a route through Bulgaria, Romania, Austria [Nabucco] will be created.
Abdullayev said that around 40 percent of the total cost of the project of transporting Azerbaijani gas to Europe worth $ 45 billion will be fall to the gas pipelines.
Two offshore platforms will be installed and more than 20 underwater wells will be drilled in order to produce additional 16 billion cubic meters of gas per year as part of the Shah Deniz-2 project.
Peak production at the field in the first stage of development is projected at nine billion cubic meters.
According to forecasts, the gas production can be brought up to 24 billion cubic meters per year as part of the second stage of the field development.
Shah Deniz reserves are estimated at 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas.
The contract to develop the offshore Shah Deniz field was signed on June 4, 1996.
Participants to the agreement are: BP (operator) - 25.5 percent, Statoil - 25.5 percent, NICO - 10 percent, Total - 10 percent, Lukoil - 10 percent, TPAO - nine percent and SOCAR - 10 percent.
A consortium of Azerbaijani Shah Deniz gas condensate field development announced its choice of the TAP project in late June, as a gas transportation route to the European markets. The gas which will be produced in the second phase of Shah Deniz field, is considered as the main source of the project.
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. For the transportation of gas through Turkey's territory Trans-Anatolian (TANAP) gas pipeline will be constructed. TANAP will allow to deliver gas to the border with Europe.