SOCAR Midstream Operations LLC has become a technical operator of the South Caucasus Gas Pipeline (SCP), BP-Azerbaijan said in a statement.
“Since March 20, 2020, BP Exploration (Shah Deniz) Limited transferred the technical operation of the SCP to SOCAR Midstream Operations, a subsidiary of SOCAR,” BP said.
According to the company, the transfer of the technical operator SOCAR Midstream Operations covers all operations related to the facilities of the South Caucasus gas pipeline. At the same time, BP will continue the general operation with the common facilities of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and SCP pipelines.
“There are no changes in the operation of the Sangachal terminal, the western Baku-Supsa oil pipeline and the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline. BP is still the operator of these facilities, ”the statement said.
The company notes that in order to effectively carry out all aspects of the transition of the technical operator, all work during 2020 will be carried out jointly by SOCAR and BP.
The information also notes that the transfer of the technical operator to SOCAR was carried out in accordance with the “Amended and Updated Agreement with the Pipeline Owners”, signed in December 2013 as part of the final investment decision on the Stage-2 project for the development of the Shah-Deniz field and the expansion of the SCP.
“In 2015, SOCAR became a commercial operator of SCP and carried out all commercial operations at a high level. Now the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan is taking over the technical operation of this pipeline. As a shareholder of SCP, we were satisfied with the technical safety indicators of this pipeline. SOCAR will use international experience and work closely with all its partners to maintain a high level of indicators of technical safety, reliability and environmental protection of the South Caucasus,” said the head of SOCAR Rovnag Abdullayev, the words of which are given in the message.
“The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan has extensive experience in the field of safe and efficient implementation of projects. A good example of this is the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline. BP, as the largest shareholder in the Shah Deniz and SCP projects, will continue to work together with SOCAR to ensure sustainable reliability and security of SCP,” said Gary Jones, President of BP for the region of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey.
The South Caucasus gas pipeline with a length of 691 km (443 km in Azerbaijan and 248 km in Georgia) was commissioned at the end of 2006.
The shareholders of SCP are BP (28.8%), TPAO (19%), SOCAR (10%), Southern Gas Corridor CJSC (6.7%), Petronas(15.5%), Lukoil (10%), and NICO (10%).
SCG is a component of the Southern Gas Corridor. Since 2019, the pipeline capacity is 29 million cubic meters of gas per day. In 2020, the gas pipeline will allow for the first time to begin gas supplies to Europe.
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