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Selection of pipeline which will export Shah Deniz gas to Europe, to be conducted between Nabucco and TAP projects

28 June 2012 12:55 (UTC +04:00)

Nabucco West will now compete with the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline, known as TAP, for rights to export Shah Deniz gas, with the partners aiming to make the final choice by mid-2013, according to the industry newsletter.

BP-Azerbaijan did not want to talk on this information. Spokesperson of the company Tamam Bayatli told APA that official statement related to selection of the pipeline had not been made yet.

Nabucco consortium also neither confirmed nor rejected the information. Press service of the company told that as long as the official statement is made in connection with it, Nabucco can not confirm this information.

On June 27, SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev noted that, Shah Deniz consortium would select the pipeline, which will be used in transportation of natural gas to the Central Europe, in the coming days.

Note that, the Shah Deniz (SD) field was discovered in 1999. It is one of the worldâ€™s largest gas-condensate fields, with over 30 trillion cubic feet - 1 trillion cubic metres - of gas in place. It is located on the deep water shelf of the Caspian Sea, 70 km south-east of Baku, in water depths ranging from 50 to 500 m. BP operates Shah Deniz on behalf of its partners in the Shah Deniz Production Sharing Agreement. Plans for the estimated $25 billion project include two new bridge linked offshore platforms. Shah Deniz has also been working to assess the options that will deliver gas from Turkey onwards to Europe. During the evaluation process the Shah Deniz Export Negotiating Team (ENT), led by SOCAR and including BP, Statoil and Total, LUKoil, Naftiran Intertrade Co., TPAO.

Remind that, gas sales and transit agreements were signed in October 2011 with BOTAS, the Turkish pipeline company, and the Turkish Government, â€“ all within an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) signed by the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Turkey. Since that date, agreements have been signed to allow the Trans Anatolia Pipeline to commence engineering studies for potential gas transportation across Turkey. Three options are being considered to carry gas into Europe: the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) with a route to Italy; Nabucco West taking gas from Turkish-European border through Eastern Europe to the West and the South East Europe Pipeline (SEEP) taking gas through Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania. The Shah Deniz consortium will make a final route selection in 2013.