Azernews.Az

The draft of the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) document for the Shah Deniz 2 project in Azerbaijan had been produced and was available for public review and comment, BP Azerbaijan reported on June 7.

According to the report, copies of the ESIA document, the non-technical summary, as well as feedback forms to allow comments on the ESIA to be received and considered during the disclosure period, are now being placed in public locations including a number of libraries in order to provide easy access to the document.

The ESIA describes the existing environmental and social conditions, the design, construction and operation of the planned facilities, the predicted effects of the planned activities and the measures which will be taken to prevent, minimise and reduce any potential adverse effects on the environment and population.

The contract to develop the Shah Deniz offshore field was signed in June 1996. Participants to the agreement are: BP (operator) with 25.5 per cent, Statoil with 25.5 per cent, NICO with 10 per cent, Total with 10 per cent, Lukoil with 10 per cent, TPAO with nine per cent and SOCAR with 10 per cent.

The Shah Deniz field's reserves are estimated at 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas.

It is planned to produce 16 billion cubic meters of additional gas within the second stage of field development that will be delivered to both regional and European markets.