Expenditure on South Caucasus Pipeline sees significant increase

From January to September 2024, operating expenses for the South Caucasus Pipeline reached approximately $60 million, while capital expenditures amounted to about $13 million.

These figures represent an increase of 22.4% for operating expenses and a remarkable 2.9-fold rise in capital expenditures.

The figures are highlighted in the bp's activity report for Azerbaijan in the third quarter of this year, per Caliber.Az.

The report also highlighted that the average daily throughput capacity of the pipeline for exports during the first three quarters of 2024 was 61.7 million cubic meters.

In the same period, bp-Azerbaijan reported a production of 20 billion cubic meters of gas from the Shah Deniz field, maintaining the same output level as the January-September 2023 figures. Additionally, the company extracted over 3 million tonnes of condensate — approximately 27 million barrels — during the same timeframe, matching the previous year's production.

According to the company, the current production capacity of the Shah Deniz field stands at around 80.7 million cubic meters per day, translating to approximately 29.5 billion cubic meters annually.

The development contract for the Shah Deniz field was signed in Baku on June 4, 1996, and ratified by the Milli Majlis on October 17 of that year. Presently, the equity participation in the contract is as follows: bp (operator - 29.99%), LUKOIL (19.99%), TPAO (19%), NICO (10%), Cenub Qaz Dehlizi CJSC (16.02%), and MVM (5%).

Furthermore, expenditures related to the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) field block activities totalled about $1.37 billion in January-September 2024. The report indicated that during this period, operating expenses for ACG were around $402 million, while capital expenditures reached $968 million.

By Tamilla Hasanova