The Shah Deniz gas field consortium in Azerbaijan will proceed with stage 2 development of the Caspian Sea field, opening its sources to Europe. Stage 2 includes offshore drilling and completion of 26 subsea wells, the construction of two bridge-linked platforms, and new onshore processing and compression facilities at Sangachal.
This decision triggers the expansion of the South Caucasus Pipeline, as well as the construction of the Trans Anatolian Gas and Trans Adriatic Pipelines. First gas is targeted for late 2018, and yearly production is estimated at 16billion cu m gas, carried to approximately 3500km consumers in Georgia, Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, and Italy.