Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 20
By Maksim Tsurkov – Trend:
Around $636 million were spent in capital expenditure and about $21 million in operating expenditures on the South Caucasus Pipeline (Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum) in 3Q17, BP said in a report on its activity in Azerbaijan in January-September 2017.
The pipeline’s daily average throughput was about 20.1 million cubic meters of gas per day in January-September 2017, according to the report.
As part of expansion of the South Caucasus Pipeline, which is a part of the Shah Deniz Stage 2 project, mainline construction continues in Azerbaijan with approximately 419 km of pipe welded and 380 km of backfill complete, and all five of the planned horizontal directional drilling activities have also been completed, reads the report.
“In Georgia, mainline construction is complete,” the report noted. “Mainline commissioning is approximately 90 percent done and is on track for completion in 2017."
Hydro-testing of the pipeline is ongoing in both Azerbaijan and Georgia, according to the report. Six hydro-test sections have been completed on the pipeline in Azerbaijan and 11 hydro-test sections have been completed in Georgia.
“Compressor Station 1 construction (in Georgia) is 100 percent complete with commissioning works approximately 67 percent done,” the report noted. “The facility is on track for start-up in 2018. In Compressor Station 2 (in Georgia), construction works are approximately 82 percent complete. In the metering station, construction works are 100 percent complete, commissioning works are approximately 87 percent done and the facility is on track to achieve the readiness for introduction of hydrocarbons milestone in 2017.”
Overall, 98 percent of the construction and commissioning scope is already completed, said the report.
The length of the South Caucasus Pipeline exceeds 700 kilometers. The gas produced from the Shah Deniz field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea is transported via the pipeline. The gas is delivered to Georgia and Turkey. At the same time, Azerbaijan also buys that gas.
A contract for development of the Shah Deniz offshore field was signed on June 4, 1996. The field’s reserve is estimated at 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas.
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