Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept.9
By Emil Ismayilov - Trend:
The ceremony marking the start of the South Caucasus Pipeline Expansion project (Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum) will take place on the 20th anniversary of signing of the Contract of the Century on Sept.20, the head of Azerbaijan's State Oil Company (SOCAR), Rovnag Abdullayev told reporters on Sept.8.
He went on to add that in fact, this will mark the start of the implementation of the South Caucasus gas corridor project.
Southern Gas Corridor will allow Europe to diversify its hydrocarbon supply sources and strengthen energy security and also will allow Azerbaijan to obtain a new market in Europe.
On December 17, 2013, a final investment decision was made on the Stage 2 of the Shah Deniz offshore gas and condensate field's development. The gas produced at this field will first go to the European market (10 billion cubic meters).
The gas to be produced as part of the Stage 2 of the field's development will be exported to Turkey and to the European markets by means of expanding the South Caucasus Pipeline and construction of the Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline (TANAP) and the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP).
Azerbaijan, which has total gas reserves of about three trillion cubic meters, will launch fuel deliveries to Europe with the help of the planned Trans-Adriatic Pipeline.
TAP's initial capacity will be 10 billion cubic meters per year, with a possibility of expanding it to 20 billion cubic meters per year.
Prior to TAP, which is to take its beginning from the border of Turkey and Greece, the Azerbaijani gas will be delivered to Turkey via the TANAP.
And before the TANAP, the gas will be delivered via the existing 700-kilometer long South Caucasus Pipeline, the capacity of which will be expanded.
The cost of the second stage of the development of the Shah Deniz field is estimated at $28 billion.