Final decisions to be made for Shah Deniz expansion

The partners in the Shah Deniz field must make two important decisions: a final investment decision for the Caspian gasfield's second-phase development and a pipeline to carry production to Europe

This year promises to be key for the second-phase development of Azerbaijan's giant Shah Deniz gasfield, with final decisions to be made on investment for the multi-billion dollar project expansion, as well as the pipeline that will carry the field's production to European Union markets.BP, which operates field development consortium, said first gas from the second-phase development is due on stream in 2018. Shah Deniz's 16 billion cubic metres a year (cm/y) of gas is crucial to the EU's plans to reduce its reliance on Russian supplies. The first phase at Shah Deniz, estimated to hold total reserves of 1.2 trillion cm of gas and 240 million tonnes of condensate, has been producing 8bn cm/y s