Azerbaijan Produced 29.1 Bcm of Natural Gas in 2015

Azerbaijan’s gas production in 2015 stood at 29.1 bcm, 1.6 percent on year, country’s energy minister Natig Aliev said in state owned newspaper Azerbaycan Friday

Of the total, 12.3 bcm has been extracted from Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) block and 9.9 bcm was extracted from the Shah Deniz field. SOCAR produced 6.9 bcm.

He said in 2016 Shah Deniz field is forecast to produce 10.1 bcm of natural gas while ACG block is expected to produce 12.9 bcm of gas. SOCAR is projected to produce 6.3 bcm.

The Shah Deniz gas field was discovered in 1999. It is located on the deep water shelf of the Caspian Sea, 70 kilometres south-east of Baku, Azerbaijan in water depths ranging from 50 to 500 metres. Shah Deniz Stage 1 began operations in 2006.

TANAP, which will carry Azeri gas to European markets, is seen as Europe's alternative to its reliance on Russia. The gas will be sourced from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz II field in the Caspian Sea, which is being developed by a BP led consortium. The TANAP will be operated by SOCAR, which currently holds 58 percent stake in the project. Turkey's pipeline operator BOTAŞ owns 30 percent, while BP acquired 12 percent in the project on March 13, 2015.