Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 16
By Maksim Tsurkov – Trend:
The Shah Deniz Stage 2 project is 99 percent complete in terms of engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning, says a BP report on its activity in Azerbaijan in 2017, issued Feb. 16.
BP Azerbaijan is the Shah Deniz field’s operator.
The Shah Deniz Stage 2 and South Caucasus Pipeline Expansion (SCPX) projects are now entering the start-up phase in the run up to receiving first gas in 2018, the report said.
On Sept. 6, 2017, the new Khankendi flagship vessel was launched, the report said.
“The state-of-the-art subsea construction vessel has been specifically designed and built to install the biggest subsea production system in the Caspian Sea as part of the Shah Deniz 2 project,” the report noted.
The $378 million vessel Khankendi is now deployed to the Shah Deniz field performing subsea installation and construction work, according to the report.
“During 2017, the construction of both Shah Deniz 2 platform topside units was completed,” said the report. “They safely sailed away and were installed offshore with commissioning work currently ongoing.”
“Construction works at the Sangachal terminal expansion area are also complete,” the report noted. “The commissioning of the new Shah Deniz 2 facilities is currently ongoing with the plans to start operations this year to be able to receive and process the additional gas volumes from Shah Deniz 2.”
“The installation of North Flank production umbilicals has already been completed by the Khankendi,” said the report. “Following completion of the export lines to the Sangachal terminal, the wells, subsea infrastructure, the Shah Deniz 2 (Bravo) platform and the Sangachal terminal are now interconnected for the first time.”
At the peak of project activities, over 24,000 people were involved in construction work across all main contracts in Azerbaijan and over 80 percent of them were Azerbaijani nationals, according to the report.
With implementation of the Shah Deniz Stage 2, gas production will increase from 9 to 25 billion cubic meters per year. The produced gas will be exported to Turkey and the European markets through the expansion of the South Caucasus Pipeline and construction of the Trans-Anatolian (TANAP) and Trans Adriatic (TAP) gas pipelines.
A contract for development of the Shah Deniz offshore field was signed on June 4, 1996. The field's reserves are estimated at 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas.