Sales of Shahdaniz gas to Russia may face roadblocks
The sales of gas produced from Azerbaijan’s offshore Shahdaniz
field to neighboring Russia could face roadblocks in light of
disagreement of the project participants.
The shareholders of the consortium on the project are not ready for the emergence of gas behemoth Gazprom and the Iranian government as buyers, said Christian Hausken, Country Manager for StatoilHydro, commercial operator of the project.
"First, we have to figure out what is involved, and then pass a decision," he said.
Gazprom and Tehran said earlier they were seeking to buy all of the gas to be extracted during Phase 2 of Shahdaniz development, which is due to start in 2013. But as is seen from the Statoil executive’s statement, both routes for the transportation of gas will bypass Azerbaijan’s giant northern neighbor and gas will instead be exported to world markets through the NABUCCO and Greece-Italy pipelines.
The Shahdaniz field in the Caspian Sea holds estimated reserves of 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas. The project operator BP Azerbaijan predicts production at 12-16bn cu. m. during Phase 2, but Azerbaijani officials say the figure could be increased to 30bn cu. m.
The NABUCCO project aims to deliver 30 billion cubic meters of gas from Central Asia and the Caspian region to Europe through a 3,300-kilometer pipeline from Turkey through Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary to Austria. Building the conduit could take until 2012, while transportation of first gas via the pipe is expected in 2013.*
The shareholders of the consortium on the project are not ready for the emergence of gas behemoth Gazprom and the Iranian government as buyers, said Christian Hausken, Country Manager for StatoilHydro, commercial operator of the project.
"First, we have to figure out what is involved, and then pass a decision," he said.
Gazprom and Tehran said earlier they were seeking to buy all of the gas to be extracted during Phase 2 of Shahdaniz development, which is due to start in 2013. But as is seen from the Statoil executive’s statement, both routes for the transportation of gas will bypass Azerbaijan’s giant northern neighbor and gas will instead be exported to world markets through the NABUCCO and Greece-Italy pipelines.
The Shahdaniz field in the Caspian Sea holds estimated reserves of 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas. The project operator BP Azerbaijan predicts production at 12-16bn cu. m. during Phase 2, but Azerbaijani officials say the figure could be increased to 30bn cu. m.
The NABUCCO project aims to deliver 30 billion cubic meters of gas from Central Asia and the Caspian region to Europe through a 3,300-kilometer pipeline from Turkey through Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary to Austria. Building the conduit could take until 2012, while transportation of first gas via the pipe is expected in 2013.*
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