Before even started implementation of the Shah Deniz Stage 2 project, State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) and its partners in the Shah-Deniz project have already reached an agreement on a new phase of works on the biggest gas field in the Caspian Sea.
SOCAR’s high ranking representative told journalists that the Shah Deniz Phase 3 project envisages development of the deeper laying beds on the Shah-Deniz field.
He said the project’s shareholders have already agreed the plans of the research works as a part of the Phase 3. The project operator (BP company – Caspian Barrel) has submitted its data to the project partners, according to which additional resources of 500 billion cub.m. of extractible gas could be discovered on the field. However, the seismic exploration works and drilling of exploration wells is needed to specify the data, said SOCAR’s representative.
This all is planned to be done only after 2025.
The Shah Deniz Phase 1 implementation started in November 2006. Since that time about 50 billion cub.m. of gas has been already extracted. The first gas from the Shah Deniz Phase 2 is planned to be extracted at the end of 2018 and gas will be exported to Europe in 2019.
It is planned that extractible resources of Shah Deniz will total 1.2 trillion cub.m. of natural gas.