Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 18
By Maksim Tsurkov – Trend:
Around $413 million were spent in capital expenditure and about $14 million in operating expenditure on the South Caucasus Pipeline (Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum) in 1H17, BP said in a report on its activity in Azerbaijan in January-June 2017.
The gas pipeline’s daily average throughput was about 21.4 million cubic meters of gas per day during the first half of 2017, according to the report.
As part of expansion of the South Caucasus Pipeline, which is a part of the Shah Deniz Stage 2 project, mainline construction continues in Azerbaijan with approximately 370 km of pipe welded and 263 km of backfill complete. All five of the planned horizontal directional drilling activities have also been completed, reads the report.
In Georgia, mainline construction is complete with about 62 km of pipe welded, coated, lowered into trenches and backfilled.
“Hydro-testing of the pipeline is ongoing in both Azerbaijan and Georgia. Five hydro-test sections have been completed on the pipeline in Azerbaijan and 11 hydro-test sections have been completed in Georgia.”
Construction works continue at the two compressor stations in Georgia, with 99 percent progress at the first and 82 percent at the second station achieved. Both stations are on track for 2018 start up. Metering station construction works are approximately 98 percent complete and on track for 2017 start up, according to the report.
Overall, 96 percent of the construction and commissioning scope is already completed.
The length of the South Caucasus Pipeline exceeds 700 kilometers. The gas produced from the Shah Deniz field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea is transported via this pipeline. The gas is delivered to Georgia and Turkey. At the same time, Azerbaijan also buys that gas.
A contract for development of the Shah Deniz offshore field was signed on June 4, 1996. The field’s reserve is estimated at 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas. Shareholders in the contract are BP (operator, 28.8 percent), AzSD (10 percent), SGC Upstream (6.7 percent), Petronas (15.5 percent), Lukoil (10 percent), NIOC (10 percent) and TPAO (19 percent).
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