Azerbaijan, Baku, May 19/ Trend, A.Badalova /
According to Cedigaz International Association for Natural Gas, Azerbaijan was among the few CIS countries to significantly increase gas production in 2009. The growth is attributed to the Shah Deniz Field where 6.2 billion cubic meters of gas were produced.
Cedigaz forecasts gas production at Shah Deniz in 2010 at 7.6 billion cubic meters.
A contract to develop Shah Deniz was signed June 4, 1996. Participants to the agreement are: BP (operator) - 25.5 percent, Statoil Hydro - 25.5 percent, NICO - 10 percent, Total - 10 percent, LukAgip - 10 percent, TPAO - 9 percent, and SOCAR - 10 percent.
Shah Deniz reserves are estimated at 1.2 trillion cubic meters.
According to BP, about 2 billion cubic meters of gas and 540,000 tons (4.3 million barrels) of condensate were produced from the field in January-March.