SOCAR conference mull latest progress with Azerbaijani oil and gas fields

/By Azernews/

By Fatma Babayeva

The latest progress with the Shah Deniz-2 and Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli fields was discussed at SOCAR’s International Practical Conference on Caspian Basin and Central Asia: Trade, Logistics, Oil Processing, Oil and Chemistry in Baku on April 25 in Baku.

Nearly 70 percent of the work under the Shah Deniz-2 project has been finalized in Azerbaijan and Georgia within the framework of implementation of the Southern Gas Corridor.

The statement was made by Energy Minister Natig Aliyev during SOCAR’s conference.

Aliyev emphasized that the work carried out within the framework of project has intensified considerably. The work on the expansion of the South Caucasus Pipeline, oil and gas terminal in Sangachal, construction of compressor stations in Georgia was done by 70 percent.

Azerbaijan is working closely with the governments of the European Union which is essential for both sides, Aliyev added. It will be possible to export gas from Iran, Iraq, Israel and Cyprus via the Southern Gas Corridor in the future as well.

The Energy Minister further added that Azerbaijan has all opportunities for discovering new gas condensate fields.

The gas to be produced as part of the Stage 2 of the Shah Deniz field development will be exported to Turkey and to the European markets by expanding the South Caucasus Pipeline and construction of the Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline and the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline. The initial capacity of TANAP pipeline is expected to reach 16 billion cubic meters of gas per year. Around six billion cubic meters of this gas will be delivered to Turkey and the remaining volume will be supplied to Europe.

The Southern Gas Corridor is among priority projects for the EU. It is designed to transport the Caspian region's gas to Europe through Georgia and Turkey.

Khoshbakht Yusifzade, first vice-president of Azerbaijan state-owned energy company SOCAR who also attended the conference stated that the volume of oil produced in the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli block in Azerbaijan stood at 393 million tons from November 1997 to April 1, 2016, and 218 million tons of this volume accounted for the country's profit oil.

The volume of the associated gas produced at ACG amounted to 118 billion cubic meters, Yusifzade said.

The vice president noted that about 90,000 tons of oil and 36 million cubic meters of gas are extracted in the block of fields per day. Currently, 91 wells operate on the ACG.

Yusifzade further said that eight million tons of oil was produced from the ACG during the first quarter of 2016, and 66 percent or 5.3 million tons of it accounted for Azerbaijan's profit oil.

Moreover, he added that 299 million tons of overall exports (407 million tons of oil) was transported via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline.

The remaining part was exported via the Baku-Supsa pipeline (76 million tons of oil), Baku-Novorossiysk pipeline (11 million tons) and a railway (21 million tons), Yusifzade said.

He added that 70 billion cubic meters of gas and 18 million tons of condensate has been produced from Shah Deniz gas and condensate field since its commissioning.

At the moment, the total volume of Azerbaijani gas export to Turkey is amounted over 39 billion cubic meters, while over five billion cubic meters is exported to Georgia, he added.

Yusifzade stressed that gas exports from the deposit to Georgia equaled to 2.5 million cubic meters per day, while supplies to Turkey made up 18.2 million cubic meters per day in the first quarter of 2016.

Daily production of gas from the Shah Deniz field totaled to 30 million cubic meters of gas.

Meanwhile, some 7,000 tons of condensate are produced at eight wells of the field per day.

The contract for development of the Shah Deniz offshore field was signed on June 4, 1996. The field's reserve is estimated at 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas.

The shareholders in the contract are BP, operator (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).