BP and its partners in the Shah Deniz consortium have announced the start of commercial gas deliveries to Europe from the Shah Deniz gas field in the Caspian Sea offshore of Azerbaijan via the newly-completed Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) pipeline system.

The start of gas deliveries through the final section of the SGC – the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) – marks the full integration of the entire SGC gas value chain, stretching 3,500 kilometres from Azerbaijan to Europe.

“This is an historic milestone, with Azerbaijan and Europe now connected with a direct, safe and reliable energy link, that again demonstrates that together we can deliver the most complex mega-scale projects successfully,” said Gary Jones, BP’s regional president for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey.

Deliveries through this final stage of the system follow safe gas deliveries to regional markets from the Shah Deniz field via the first two sections of SGC – the South Caucasus Pipeline expansion (SCPx) and Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) – that commenced in mid-2018.

The Shah Deniz field (first discovered in 1999) is the starting point of SGC, which has been built to deliver Caspian energy resources directly to European markets for the first time.

The field is one of the world’s largest gas-condensate fields and covers approximately 860 square kilometres. It is expected to supply 16 billion cubic meters of gas to markets in the region and Europe via SGC.

Rovnag Abdullayev, President of SOCAR, said that the company expresses its deep gratitude to the other partner companies, specialists and all colleagues, who participated in TAP, Shah Deniz 2 and the Southern Gas Corridor projects, contributing to the first delivery of Azerbaijani gas to the European market.

“We thank all financial institutions that supported this project and the residents of the communities where our pipelines pass. As a shareholder in all Southern Gas Corridor segments, SOCAR is proud of the successful completion of this historic mission. On behalf of Azerbaijani oil workers, I congratulate both the people of the European Union and the people of Azerbaijan. We express our utmost gratitude and extend our congratulations to Mr. Ilham Aliyev, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the author and the leader of this initiative,” Mr Abdullayev said.

“Seven years ago, we made the final investment decision together with our partners. We embarked on this journey by signing 25-year gas sales agreements with European gas distribution companies. The construction of three interconnected gas pipelines across continents with a total length of 3,500-kilometres was a highly complex endeavour. Back then, some were sceptical about this project.”

“Now the mission is accomplished – Azerbaijan’s natural gas has arrived in Europe. Coming from a new source through an alternative route, it will contribute to European energy security. We anticipate a growing demand for additional gas volumes on the European market due to the constant local production decline. Our gas will fill this gap for decades to come, and the importance of cooperation between the Old Continent and Azerbaijan will increase,” he said.

Gary Jones, Regional President for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey for BP, the operator of Shah Deniz, further commented that the start of gas deliveries to Europe from Azerbaijan is the culmination of years of work by many thousands of people from all the countries involved – the workforce, communities, companies, the government of Azerbaijan and other regional and international governments, and SOCAR and our partners.

He noted that this is a truly world-class project in all respects.

“We are very proud of what we have achieved together. Notwithstanding the complexity of all aspects of the project – engineering, technical, geographical and geopolitical – it has been delivered safely, on schedule and under budget.”

“This is an historic milestone, with Azerbaijan and Europe now connected with a direct, safe and reliable energy link, that again demonstrates that together we can deliver the most complex mega-scale projects successfully,” he added.

Shah Deniz participating interests are: BP (operator – 28.8 per cent), TPAO (19.0 per cent), AzSD (10.0 per cent), SGC Upstream (6.7 per cent), PETRONAS (15.5 per cent), LUKOIL (10.0 per cent) and NICO (10.0 per cent).