The prime minister of Malta was welcomed by the Deputy Prime Minister Ali Ahmadov and other officials at the international airport of Heydar Aliyev, according to the government of Azerbaijan.
The Southern Gas Corridor will allow Europe to diversify its hydrocarbon supply sources and strengthen energy security and also will allow Azerbaijan to obtain a new market in Europe.
On December 17, 2013, a final investment decision was made on the Stage 2 of the Shah Deniz offshore gas and condensate field`s development. The gas produced at this field will first go to the European market (10 billion cubic meters). Around six billion cubic meters will be annually supplied to Turkey.
The contract for development of the Shah Deniz offshore field, which has proven reserve of 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas, was signed on June 4, 1996.
In 2013, some 9.8 billion cubic meters of gas and 2.48 million metric tons of condensate (19.6 million barrels) were produced at Shah Deniz, as compared to 7.73 billion cubic meters of gas and two million metric tons of condensate in 2012.
The share distribution among the agreement parties (after SOCAR’s and BP’s acquisition of Statoil’s share in the project) is as follows: BP (operator) - 28.8 percent, Statoil – 15.5 percent, NICO - 10 percent, Total - 10 percent, Lukoil - 10 percent, TPAO - nine percent, and SOCAR – 16.7 percent.
Earlier, Total sold its share in the project to the Turkish company TPAO, and after completion of the deal the latter’s share in the project will be 19 percent.
The Norwegian Statoil sold a 15.5 percent share in the project to the Malaysian company Petronas. The deal for purchase and sale of shares is not yet complete.
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