Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 17
By Seymur Aliyev - Trend:
Volume of annual gas production as part of the first development phase of Shah Deniz gas and condensate field is planned to be increased from nine to 10.4 billion cubic meters, BP Shah Deniz development Vice President, Al Cook said.
He made the remarks at a press conference held in Baku on Dec. 17.
Additional 1.4 billion cubic meters will be sold under new contract to the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR), according to him.
"We believe this is a win-win deal, giving the Shah Deniz partnership access to go to sales, and giving SOCAR access to gas purchases," Cook said.
He did not disclose the cost of additionally sold gas, based on a commercial secret.
Cook said that at present, work is underway to increase production volumes.
"This production increase will occur gradually over the next 12 month. It is already underway and we are pleased to tell you that just last week Shah Deniz produced record production of 9.8 billion cubic meters," he said.
The BP vice president said gas is being extracted from five wells at the field.
"The extension of the Shah Deniz production sharing agreement to 2048 is very important to the Shah Deniz partners. It means we can plan for the very long term and part of that planning means undertaking new exploration for the future of Azerbaijan and future of Shah Deniz beyond stage two," he said.
There are three areas at the field where it is planed to conduct seismic surveys, according to Cook. Explorations at the field are continuing in order to re-analyze the data. This in turn gives the opportunity to say that the field may have more reserves.
The volume of gas reserves in formations that are currently being developed at the field, stands at 33 trillion cubic feet (0.9 trillion cubic meters), whereas in whole the deposit's reserves are estimated at 40 trillion cubic feet (1.1 trillion cubic meters).
The Final Investment Decision on the second phase of Shah Deniz field's development was made on Dec. 17 in Baku. Gas within the second stage of the field's development will be exported to Europe through expansion of the South Caucasus gas pipeline and construction of the Trans-Anatolian and Trans-Adriatic gas pipelines.
Reserves of the Shah Deniz field are estimated at 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas.
The cost of the second stage of development of Shah Deniz is estimated at $25 billion.
Translated by E.A.