Azeri Shah Deniz giant offshore field is set to near its plateau gas production goal by starting up the East South deep-water flank, project leader BP said on Tuesday.
The giant Shah Deniz gas project in the Caspian sea, split into two phases, is supplying Europe, Turkey, Georgia, and its home market Azerbaijan. It currently pumps 21 billion cubic meters of gas (bcm) per year, with plans to raise it to 26 bcm.
BP's regional office said that production was initiated at Shah Deniz II's East South flank which would add 400 million cubic feet per day, or 11 million cubic meters, to the overall gas output in the third quarter of 2021.
"This will enable Shah Deniz II to increase overall production to well over 2.4 billion standard cubic feet per day (24.8 bcm per year) across the assets," the statement said.
Europe sees Azeri gas as a way to diversify away from the Russian supplies which still account for around a third of EU's gas needs. read more
(Reporting by Nailia Bagirova Writing by Katya Golubkova; editing by Louise Heavens)