BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 20. Construction has
begun on the offshore section of the $2.9 billion Shah Deniz
Compressor Station (SHDC) at the Shah Deniz gas and condensate
field.


This was announced in a statement published by bp
Azerbaijan.


Meanwhile, it is reported that the installation of four tubular
piles, which will form the foundation of the platform’s support
block, has been successfully completed as part of the project. Over
the past few weeks, the piles were safely transported offshore and
installed using the underwater construction vessel “Khankendi.”


Each of these piles, approximately 70 meters long, 108 inches in
diameter, and weighing 292 metric tons, is the largest-diameter
tubular pile ever installed by bp in the Caspian Sea. A specially
designed 188-metric-ton underwater support slab was used to ensure
its stability and vertical alignment during installation.


In addition, it is noted that pile plug installation technology
was used for the first time in bp’s operations in the region during
this project.


The completion of this phase paves the way for the installation
of the platform support block, scheduled for the first half of
2028.


The Shah Deniz field is located on the deepwater shelf of the
Caspian Sea, 70 kilometers southeast of Baku, and covers an area of
more than 140 square kilometers. According to preliminary
estimates, the reserves of the field, discovered in 1999, amount to
approximately 1 trillion cubic meters of gas and 2 billion barrels
of condensate.







Development of the field proceeded in phases. In 2003, a final
investment decision was made for the first phase, and commercial
production began in 2006. In 2013, the “Shah Deniz 2” project was
approved, and production began in 2018.


The project is currently in its next phase, the compressor
facility project. This $2.9 billion project aims to increase
production from the field’s low-pressure gas reserves and is
expected to yield an additional 50 billion cubic meters of gas.


At the same time, the Shah Deniz project has made a significant
contribution to the development of local industrial capacity and a
skilled workforce in Azerbaijan. The project has created thousands
of jobs, and local construction and service companies have been
integrated into international energy projects.


According to bp, the current production capacity of the Shah
Deniz field’s operational infrastructure is approximately 76.8
million standard cubic meters of gas per day, or about 28 billion
cubic meters of gas per year.


The ownership stakes in the Shah Deniz project are distributed
as follows: bp (operator) – 29.99%, LUKOIL – 19.99%, TPAO – 19%,
SGK – 16.02%, NIKO – 10%, and MVM – 5%.