Azernews.Az

The project on the second stage of developing Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field will enable gas from the resource-rich Caspian region to be supplied to European markets for the first time in history, a BP Azerbaijan official has said.

"At the time global demand for energy is growing, BP and its partners are developing the project on Phase 2 of Shah Deniz field development, which will open up the Southern Gas Corridor," Business Development Manager at BP Azerbaijan, Ernesto Daza, said at the Caspian Oil and Gas Trading and Transportation Conference in Baku on Tuesday.

Daza said the Shah Deniz II project is one of the biggest projects in the world, and the partners are now intensively developing it. According to him, first gas is expected to be produced under the project in 2017.

Daza also stressed the strategic role of the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline as a hub opening access for Shah Deniz II gas to Europe. TANAP also has a key role in developing Turkey as an energy hub.

He added that Europe needs the Southern Gas Corridor, which will meet its energy demand and diversify energy supplies.

The contract to develop the Shah Deniz field was signed in June 1996. Shah Deniz participating interests are: BP (operator - 25.5%), Statoil (25.5%), SOCAR (10%), LUKOIL (10%), NICO (10%), Total (10%), and TPAO (9%).

Gas reserves of the Shah Deniz field are estimated at 1.2 trillion cubic meters. It is predicted that during Phase 2 gas production could be brought to 24 billion cubic meters a year. Gas to be produced during this phase is considered the main source for the Southern Gas Corridor projects, in particular Nabucco West and Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP). Azerbaijan plans to export 10 billion cubic meters of gas per year to Europe as part of Phase 2 of Shah Deniz development.