Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec.16
By Emil Ismayilov - Trend:
A memorandum of understanding on future Azerbaijani gas supply with several Balkan countries is expected to be signed on Dec.17 in Baku, senior representative of Azerbaijani State Oil Company (SOCAR) told Trend on Dec. 16.
The memorandum is to be signed with Albania, Montenegro, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, according to the company's senior representative.
The memorandum will be signed if its text can be agreed upon by all interested parties, the SOCAR representative said.
It is expected that the final investment decision on the Shah Deniz 2 project will be adopted on Dec.17 in Baku.
The resolution of the Steering Committee of the project for the development of the Shah Deniz field will be signed in Baku on Dec.17, according to the SOCAR representative.
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.
Shah Deniz reserves are estimated at 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas.
The cost of the second phase of development of Shah Deniz gas condensate field is estimated at $25 billion.
Within the second phase of development it is planned to produce some 16 billion cubic meters of gas (within the first phase - 9 billion), six billion of which will be transported to Turkey and ten billion to Europe.
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 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. Trans-Anatolian (TANAP) gas pipeline will be constructed for transportation of gas through Turkey's territory.
Translated by L.Z.
Edited by C.N.