The Shah Deniz consortium, comprised of BP (operator), SOCAR, TPAO, PETRONAS, LUKOIL, NICO and SGC, has today announced commencement of commercial gas deliveries to Turkey from the Shah Deniz 2 development project. The Shah Deniz 2 project is being delivered safely, on schedule and within budget, starting deliveries to Turkey as planned on 30 June 2018.

Shah Deniz 2 is the starting point of the new Southern Gas Corridor, which will deliver Caspian resources directly to European gas markets for the first time. At plateau, the project is expected to add 16 billion cubic meters of gas per year (bcma) to the existing production. Total production from the Shah Deniz field will be up to 26 bcma of gas and up to 120,000 barrels of condensate a day.

Shah Deniz 2 of Azerbaijan represents the first subsea field development in the Caspian Sea - the largest subsea infrastructure which BP operates in the world. With an investment of approximately US$28 billion, the project is comprised of a planned total of at least 26 subsea wells; two bridge-linked platforms; 500km of subsea pipelines and flowlines; major expansion at the Sangachal Terminal near Baku; and an expansion of the South Caucasus Pipeline that includes 428 km of new pipeline through Azerbaijan, 59 km of new pipeline and two new compressor stations in Georgia.

SOCAR’s President Rovnag Abdullayev said: “The delivery of first commercial gas via TANAP marks an important milestone in the realization of the Southern Gas Corridor. Notwithstanding the complexity of this mega scale project, we managed to simultaneously coordinate and launch the Southern Gas Corridor segments in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey on schedule and under budget. The construction of the Shah Deniz 2 platforms – both topside units and jackets, fully in Azerbaijan by SOCAR’s affiliate companies is a great track record not only for Azerbaijan but also for the whole region.”

Gary Jones, BP’s Regional President for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, said: “First commercial gas to Turkey in 2018 is a significant target we had promised to deliver since the start of this major project. Working together with the regional governments and our co-venturers in the Shah Deniz consortium, we have met this target safely, on schedule and within budget. This demonstrates that together we can successfully deliver high quality projects. BP as operator is very pleased that the longstanding partnerships we have in Azerbaijan and the entire region have allowed us to bring this world class project to success enabling us to meet our commitments to consumers in Turkey. We look forward to continuing to build on this extraordinary delivery and work closely with the government of Azerbaijan, SOCAR and other co-venturers towards our next target of gas to Europe in 2020.”

Shah Deniz – located in the Caspian Sea offshore Azerbaijan is the largest ever gas discovery made by BP.

The giant field covers approximately 860 square kilometres;

The field was discovered in 1999 – with approximately 1 trillion cubic metres of gas and 2 billion barrels of condensate initially in place.

The first phase of the Shah Deniz field came on production in 2006 and currently produces more than 10 billion cubic metres per annum (bcma) of gas delivering to Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey;

Total production from Shah Deniz to date is more than 91 billion standard cubic metres of gas and around 23 million tonnes of condensate.

The additional 16 bcma from Shah Deniz 2 will flow through some 3,500 kilometres of pipeline to Georgia, Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, Albania and Italy. The pipelines that make up the new Southern Gas Corridor consist of the South Caucasus Pipeline expansion (SCPX) through Azerbaijan and Georgia, 428 km of new 48-inch pipeline through Azerbaijan; 59 km of new 48-inch pipeline and 2 new compressor stations in Georgia; TANAP, 1340km of 56-inch pipeline, 34km of 36-inch pipeline and 476km of 48-inch pipeline across Turkey; and TAP, 878 km of 48-inch pipeline across Greece, Albania and Italy.