Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

The date of delivering the gas produced during the second stage of Shah Deniz field development to Turkey and Europe was announced.

The first gas will be delivered to Turkey in 2018 and to Europe in 2019, Head of Azerbaijan's state energy company SOCAR Rovnag Abdullayev said on December 5.

SOCAR's plans are not confined to opening the Southern Gas Corridor and transporting the Shah Deniz-2 gas through it.

"We consider the gas transportation from Shah Deniz as merely the first link in this chain," he said at panel discussions during the third Caspian Forum in Istanbul.

Currently, Shah Deniz and the European Commission are jointly working on an alternative option for delivering gas to Bulgaria.

Azerbaijan enjoys over 3 trillion cubic meters of proven gas reserves, and several exploration projects are underway, Abdullayev noted.

"We can confidently say Azerbaijan's total export potential will reach at least 40-50 billion cubic meters of gas by 2025. We believe that the major part of the gas can be transported to European markets, Abdullayev said.

A powerful gas transportation system consisting of three parts - the South Caucasus Pipeline, the Trans-Anatolian pipeline (TANAP), and the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) - is required for supplying gas.

Abdullayev also said Azerbaijan's gas will be initially transported via the TANAP pipeline. In the future, gas of other manufacturers from the eastern part of the Caspian Sea will be supplied via this pipeline. Once the sources and volumes of gas are increased, the TAP gas pipeline will be expanded and a route through Bulgaria, Romania, and Austria [Nabucco] will be created.

Around 40 percent of the total cost of the project for transporting Azerbaijani gas to Europe worth $45 billion will fall to the gas pipelines, said the SOCAR head.

BP's Regional President for Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey (AGT) Gordon Birrell also talked about the second stage of the Shah Deniz field's development, saying the filed partners will spend about $40 billion on the second stage of the project's implementation, about $20 billion of which will be spent for building production infrastructure.

This year, expenditures on development of the Shah Deniz field will amount to $2 billion, Birell said.

The Azerbaijani gas will become an alternative supply source for Turkey and Europe, and will increase competition in regional and European markets.

Azerbaijan's proven gas reserves exceed 2.55 trillion cubic meters, while its anticipated gas reserves are estimated at 6 trillion cubic meters.

In the first eleven months of 2013, gas production exceeded 14.62 billion cubic meters of marketable gas, 1.9 percent more than the same period in 2012.

Gas production, excluding associated gas, amounted to 17.24 billion cubic meters in 2012, showing a 5.4 percent increase compared to 2011.

The gas condensate reserves of the Shah Deniz field are estimated at 1.2 trillion cubic meters.

Two offshore platforms will be installed and more than 20 underwater wells will be drilled in order to produce an additional 16 billion cubic meters of gas per year as part of the Shah Deniz-2 project.

Peak production at the field in the first stage of development is projected at nine billion cubic meters.

According to forecasts, gas production can be brought up to 24 billion cubic meters per year as part of the second stage of the field development.

The preliminary date for Shah Deniz Consortium to make a final investment decision on the second stage of development of the Shah Deniz field is December 17, a source in the oil and gas market told Trend news agency.