Azernews.Az

By Nigar Abbasova

Shah Deniz Stage 2 gas development project, one of the largest gas developments in the world is complete by almost 80 percent in terms of engineering, procurement and construction operations, said Rovnag Abdullayev, head of SOCAR.

“We have already drilled some 10 wells by means of “Heydar Aliyev” and “Istiqlal” drilling rigs to transport the first volumes of gas and create a basis for the increase of extraction in the future," he stressed.

Moreover, submarine infrastructure is being created in the Caspian for the first time. "We are engaged in the construction of a special vessel “Khankendi”, which will implement all underwater operations. The construction of the vessel, which is expected to be completed by early 2017, is being implemented in SOCAR’s shipbuilding yard,” he added.

The yard also participated in the construction of a sixth-generation half-plunge drilling rig, while the financing for the project was provided by the State Oil Fund (SOFAZ). The rig will allow SOCAR to stir up drilling operations in the Caspian.

The Shah Deniz field, discovered in 1999, is considered to be one of the world’s largest gas-condensate fields, with the estimated reserves standing at 1.2 tcm. The country has so far extracted some 75 bcm of gas and 19 million tons of condensate at the field, which is located on the deep water shelf of the Caspian Sea, 70 km south-east of Baku, in water depths ranging from 50 to 500 meters.

“Some 9.9 bcm of gas and 2.3 million tons of condensate were extracted last year, while the capacity of Shah Deniz rigs stands at approximately 29.5 bcm of gas per day or 10.8 bcm per year,” he emphasized.

The cost of Shah Deniz 2 development is estimated at $25 billion, while the fist volume of gas at the field is expected to be produced in 2018. A giant project will add a further 16 billion cubic meters of gas production per year to the approximate volume of 9 bcm produced by Shah Deniz Stage 1. As part of the Stage 2, gas will be exported to Turkey and European markets by expanding the South Caucasus Pipeline and finalizing the construction of the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) and Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP). Azerbaijan will export 6 billion cubic meters (bcm) a year of Shah Deniz gas to Turkey and 10 bcm to the European market increasing its energy security.

The contract for development of the Shah Deniz offshore field was signed on June 4, 1996. The shareholders in the contract are BP (operator with a stake of 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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Nigar Abbasova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @nigyar_abbasova

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