Gas export from Shah Deniz resumes after short-term halt

By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

Azerbaijan resumed gas exports from the Shah Deniz field after a short-term halt, local media reported with the reference to to the SOCAR’s Deputy Head of Public Relations Ibrahim Ahmadov on February 24.

Noting that the halt was short-term and export operations were resumed within a few hours, Ahmadov underlined that the reasons for the stoppage are currently being found out.

Ealier on the same day, the Turkish media reported on the suspension of gas exports from Azerbaijan to Turkey. This was explained by problems that emerged in the Shah Deniz gas condensate field.

The contract on the development of the Shah Deniz gas condensate field, which is among the world’s largest gas-condensate fields, was signed in 1996. 

In 2020, the Shah Deniz field produced around 18.1 billion cubic metres of gas and 3.6 million tonnes of condensate. The existing Shah Deniz facilities’ production capacity is currently over 56 million cubic metres of gas per day. 

Additionally, on 31 December, Shah Deniz celebrated a significant achievement by commencing first-ever commercial gas deliveries to European markets via the newly-completed Southern Gas Corridor pipeline system. The Shah Deniz field is the starting point of SGC and the commencement of gas deliveries to Europe from Shah Deniz marks the full integration of the entire SGC gas value chain, stretching 3,500 kilometres from Azerbaijan to Europe. With this important achievement, Shah Deniz represents a new source of energy supply for Europe diversifying its energy market and strengthening its energy security.

Shareholders of Shah Deniz project are: BP (operator, 28.8 percent), TPAO (19 percent), AzSD (10 percent), SGC Upstream (6.7 percent), PETRONAS (15.5 percent), LUKOIL (10 percent) and NICO (10 percent).