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%.