Baku, Azerbaijan, May 5
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
Iran will keep its share in the largest Azerbaijani gas project Shah Deniz at 10 percent, says the Iranian Deputy Oil Minister Rokneddin Javadi.
Iran's share in the project will not be increased, explained Javadi, who also heads the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), IRNA news agency reported May 5.
The Naftiran Intertrade Company (NICO), a Swiss-based subsidiary of NIOC, owns a 10-percent share in Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz project.
It is while Mahmoud Vaezi, co-chairman of the Iran-Azerbaijan intergovernmental commission, said last year that Iran intends to increase its stake in the project.
He said negotiations on the issue are already underway with the Azerbaijani side.
The 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.
The project's shareholders are: BP, operator (28.8 percent), AzSD (10 percent), SGC Upstream (6.7 percent), Petronas (15.5 percent), Lukoil (10 percent), NICO (10 percent) and TPAO (19 percent).
As part of the implementation of the Shah Deniz project, the annual gas production will increase from 9 billion cubic meters (within the first phase) by additional 16 billion cubic meters in the second phase.
As part of the second stage of the field's development, gas will be exported to Turkey and European markets by expanding the South Caucasus Pipeline and the construction of the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) and Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP).