Commercial gas production increases markedly

By Azernews

By Mirsaid Ibrahimzade

Azerbaijan gradually takes an advantage in the world gas market against a background of rising demand for this raw material. Since the beginning of the 2000s, the prospects of natural gas production in Europe are declining and this creates great opportunities for Azerbaijani gas to expand presence in the European market.

As is predicted, natural gas will be the only hydrocarbon resource that will increase its share in the continent’s energy balance, reaching 26 percent by 2040.

So in order to diminish the dependence on other producers, Europe welcomes Azerbaijan as a gas exporter and the country shows initiative which is expressed in the world scale projects which already export Azerbaijani gas to the European continent.

Currently, Azerbaijani gas is transported via Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) to Georgia and via TANAP to Turkey. Shah Deniz gas field is the largest natural gas field in Azerbaijan. Stretching out over 140 square kilometers, the reservoir is similar in size and shape to Manhattan Island.

Europe is looking forward to gas deliveries and this process is underway. Taking into account Europe’s huge demand for gas, big volumes of gas supply will be in need. Therefore, Azerbaijan is diversifying the network of pipelines and desires to build an infrastructure linking the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) with other gas sources.

It is noteworthy that in total, the extractive industry production was worth 13.7 billion manats ($8.05 billion) in the extractive industry of Azerbaijan in January-May 2019, which is 0.7 percent more than in the same period of 2018, according to Azerbaijani State Statistics Committee.

As for the total gas production, its figure recorded growth by 22.6 percent in January-May 2019 compared to January-May 2018 and reached 14.475 billion cubic meters, including 10.1 billion cubic meters of commercial gas.

The commercial gas production increased by 40.4 percent in January-May 2019 compared to the same period last year.

It is noteworthy that among the pipelines which will deliver Azerbaijani gas to European markets, it is important to note TANAP, which along with TAP is part of the Southern Gas Corridor project that envisages transportation of gas from Azerbaijani Shah Deniz-2 gas field to European markets. Six billion cubic meters of the amount will be used to meet Turkey's demands, while the remaining 10 billion cubic meters will be sent to Europe.