BP resumes production from Shah Deniz Alpha platform after resolving technical issue in subsea condensate pipeline - company

BAKU. Jan 20 (Interfax) - UK-based BP, technical operator of developing the Shah Deniz gas condensate field, has resumed production from the Shah Deniz Alpha platform on January 18, BP Azerbaijan's press service said in a statement.

"Production at the Shah Deniz Alpha platform resumed on the evening of January 18. This follows the full resolution of the technical issue in the subsea condensate export line between the Shah Deniz Alpha (SDA) platform and the Sangachal terminal," the statement said on Sunday.

Production and export operations from SDA are now gradually ramping up, and "we expect this process to take a few more days," it said.

"We continue to work closely with SOCAR and other partners, coordinating our plans and activities with them," it said.

BP Azerbaijan told Interfax on January 10 that the company had temporarily suspended operations at the Shah Deniz Alpha platform due to a technical fault in an underwater pipeline designed to transport condensate from the platform to the shore. To eliminate this problem, production from the platform was stopped and all required works were carried out to fix the issue as soon as possible.

Overall, gas supplies from Azerbaijan were temporarily reduced due to a technical fault at Shah Deniz Alpha, while the Shah Deniz Bravo platform is fully operational and ensures uninterrupted exports. In particular, the shutdown of the Shah Deniz Alpha platform resulted in a temporary halt to gas supplies to Bulgaria. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic also said on January 11 that Azerbaijani gas supplies to the country had been stopped due to a fault at the Shah Deniz field. However, Vucic said the next day, January 12 that exports to Serbia would not stop.

The contract to develop the field was signed in 1996. The parties' shareholding in the contract is currently BP (operator) at 29.99%, Lukoil at 19.99%, Turkey's TPAO at 19%, Azerbaijan's Cenub Qaz Dehlizi at 16.02%, Iran's NICO at 10%, and Hungary's MVM at 5%.

Currently, gas and condensate production at the field is carried out from the Alpha platform as part of Stage-1 and the Bravo platform under Stage-2. Gas production began in December 2006.

Azerbaijan has contracts for supplies of gas with ten European countries, namely, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, and Slovenia. It has long-term contracts with fixed supply volumes with three countries, namely, Italy, Greece and Bulgaria, and contracts without specific volumes with the others.