On August 9, SOCAR as leader of the Shah Deniz Export Negotiating Team announced that a request for proposal (RFP) and a request for information (RFI) has been issued to the three main prospective EU pipeline groups for transit of Shah Deniz gas to Europe.

These are IGI Poseidon, Trans-Adriatic Pipeline and Nabucco. In these documents Shah Deniz has requested the pipeline groups to provide the consortium with information it requires to evaluate the projects and take a decision on an export solution. The submission date to the request, which should include a tariff offer and associated terms and conditions, as well as detailed information on wider aspects of the projects, has been set for October 1, 2011. It should be noted that Shah Deniz Full Field Development is a giant project that is designed to bring gas from Azerbaijan to Europe and Turkey increasing gas supply and energy diversity to European markets through a new Southern Corridor.

It is expected to add a further 16 billion cubic meters per year (bcma) of gas production to the approximately 9 bcma from Shah Deniz Stage 1. It is one of the largest gas development projects anywhere in the world and the new Southern Corridor will substantially increase the security and diversity of European gas imports. The current plans are that the project will include two new bridge-linked production platforms; 26 subsea wells to be drilled with 2 semi-submersible rigs; 500 km of subsea pipelines built at up to 550m of water depth; 16 bcma upgrade for the South Caucasus Pipeline (SCP); expansion of the Sangachal Terminal with compressors for FFD gas and SCP.

It is also planned that the project itself will take FFD gas to the Georgian-Turkish border. Transportation of gas through Turkey to the European markets will either use existing Turkish infrastructure or new pipeline infrastructure. The project is currently working to assess all options.

Source: SOCAR, August 11, 2011;