bp to temporarily cut gas production at Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz

bp-Azerbaijan PR manager Tamam Bayatly has announced a planned reduction in gas production at the Azerbaijani Shah Deniz field from August 5 to August 9.

“The reduction, which will see production levels decrease to a required level, is necessary to facilitate scheduled preventive maintenance on the export gas pipelines,” Bayatly told the local media, Caliber.Az reports.

BOTAS Petroleum Pipeline Corporation has announced a temporary suspension of natural gas supply to Türkiye's national distribution network due to maintenance and repair work on the gas export infrastructure from the Shah Deniz field. The suspension will occur in two phases: from July 31 to August 5 for the Türkgözü entry point, and from August 5 to August 9 for the TANAP Seitgazi entry point.

Additionally, TAP AG, the operator of the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), has scheduled maintenance work on the upper section of the Southern Gas Corridor pipeline from August 5 to August 9, 2024.

“TAP’s transport systems and capacity will remain operational, but gas flows entering TAP at the Kipoi interconnection point will be reduced,” the company stated. “This reduction may impact gas supplies at all connection points with gas transmission systems, including Komotini, Nea Mesimvria, and Melendugno.”

“TAP has notified gas distribution system operators in neighbouring countries and issued an urgent advisory to European market representatives. We anticipate a return to normal service once the scheduled maintenance is completed,” the company added.

The Shah Deniz (SD) field was discovered in 1999. It is one of the world’s largest gas-condensate fields. It is located on the deep water shelf of the Caspian Sea, 70 km south-east of Baku, in water depths ranging from 50 to 500 m.
bp operates Shah Deniz on behalf of its partners in the Shah Deniz Production Sharing Agreement (PSA).
Shah Deniz is structured as an unincorporated Joint Venture (JV) partnership. bp is the operator of the Shah Deniz JV. Shah Deniz Stage 1 began operations in 2006. It has the capacity to produce around 10 billion cubic meters of gas per annum (bcma) and approximately 50,000 barrels a day of condensate.