Shah-Deniz Consortium might complete evaluation of proposals for gas supply to Europe by Nov - SOCAR
BAKU. Oct 5 (Interfax) - The Shah-Deniz Consortium has started assessing proposals for supplying Azerbaijani gas to Europe within the framework of Phase-2 of the development of the Shah-Deniz field. There proposals have been put forward by consortiums in the construction of gas pipelines, the president of State Oil Company of the Azerbaijani Republic (SOCAR), Rovnag Abdullayev, told journalists on Wednesday.
"This process requires time since it includes a large packet of documents," he said, adding that the assessment process should stake 15 to 20 days.
"The consortium's experts should present their conclusions after the assessment," he said.
It was earlier reported that SOCAR, as leader of the Shah-Deniz Consortium in negotiations for exporting gas from the field, received final proposals from three consortiums by October 1, 2011 for pipeline projects aiming at delivering Azerbaijani gas to Europe. These include ITGI (Italia-Turkey-Greece Interconnector) Poseidon, Trans Adriatic Pipeline and Nabucco.
The supply of Azerbaijani gas to Europe is planned as part of the Phase-2 project for the development of the Shah-Deniz. Phase-2's cost is valued at $20 billion. Total production will reach 16 billion cubic meters gas from the field. Initial production in the framework of Phase-2 was slated for 2012. However, owing to unresolved issues regarding gas transit, this has been moved ahead to 2017.
The Phase-2 project foresees the construction of two new platforms, the drilling of 26 underground wells, the laying of 500 kilometers in underground pipeline at a depth of 550 meters and expanding the transport capacity of the South Caucasus trunk pipeline (Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum) to 16 bcm.
The participants in the Shah-Deniz project at BP (the operator with 25.5%), Statoil (25.5%), SOCAR (10%), Lukoil 10%), NICO (10%), Total (10%) and TPAO (9%).
