Shah Deniz gas is carried to market through the South Caucasus Pipeline (SCP) from Sangachal via the Georgian capital of Tbilisi to the Turkish border. The field came on stream in December 2006.
A production sharing agreement between seven oil companies and the Azerbaijani authorities for the Shah Deniz area of the southern Caspian was signed in June 1996
Substantial gas and condensate (light oil) resources were proven in Shah Deniz during 1999. Two years later, a gas sales agreement was concluded between Azerbaijan and Turkey.
This commits the Turks to import up to 6.6 billion standard cubic metres of Azerbaijani gas per year – a volume which will be covered by the stage I development of Shah Deniz.
A similar but smaller export agreement has been concluded between Azerbaijan and Georgia. Some gas from the first development stage will also be sold locally in Azerbaijan.
Gas and condensate from the field is piped to the Sangachal terminal south-west of Baku.
From there, the gas will be routed to Erzurum through the system belonging to Turkish pipeline operator Botas. The total transport distance from Shah Deniz will then be 970 kilometres.
