Azerbaijani gas reserves distributed until 2044

Azerbaijani gas, to be produced from the Shah Deniz field, has been distributed until 2044, Natig Abbasov, the Azerbaijani Deputy Energy Minister, told Trend.

"Taking into account an increase in the number of consumers, Azerbaijan annually draws up the fuel balance, which takes into account the entire energy as electricity and oil and gas,” he said. “As for the gas to be produced in the future and to be supplied for export, we have already signed the agreements for 25 years with nine companies from eight countries. According to these agreements, some 16 billion cubic meters of gas have been also distributed - 10 billion cubic meters will be exported to Europe and the remaining 6 billion cubic meters – to Turkey."

Regarding the imports of gas from Russia to meet the needs of the AzMeCo company's methanol plant, Abbasov said that this is just a consequence of the fact that the plant didn’t conclude a contract with the state oil company in time, and its needs weren’t reflected in the fuel balance of Azerbaijan for 2015.

“At the moment, we are working on the fuel balance for 2016,” said Abbasov. “I think that it will be approved in January 2016. The needs of the methanol plant for 2016 will also be taken into account in the fuel balance of 2016.”

The deputy minister also touched upon the stage of work regarding the Southern Gas Corridor project, noting that the work on the project is even slightly ahead of schedule.

“To date, the work is carried out on schedule, even a little ahead of it,” said Abbasov. “Regarding the timing of completion of the work, I think that the work will be completed in 2019, as it was planned.”

The Southern Gas Corridor is one of the priority energy projects for EU. It envisages the transportation of gas from the Caspian Sea region to the European countries through Georgia and Turkey.

At the initial stage, the gas to be produced as part of the Stage 2 of development of Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz field is considered as the main source for the Southern Gas Corridor projects. Other sources can also connect to this project at a later stage.

As part of the Stage 2 of the Shah Deniz development, the gas will be exported to Turkey and European markets by expanding the South Caucasus Pipeline and the construction of Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline and Trans-Adriatic Pipeline. (Trend.az)