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BAKU, June 4 (Reuters) - BP has turned over rights to
operate the South Caucasus Pipeline (SCP), part of the network
that is due to start carrying gas from Azerbaijan to Europe this
year, to a unit of Azeri state energy firm SOCAR, the groups
said on Thursday.
In line with an agreement initially signed in 2013, SOCAR
Midstream Operations will take over as technical operator of all
dedicated SCP facilities in Azerbaijan and Georgia, BP, SOCAR
and the SCP said in a joint statement.
"We remain committed to working with SOCAR to ensure
continued safe and reliable operation of the pipeline," Gary
Jones, BP's regional president for Azerbaijan, Georgia and
Turkey, said in the statement.
The Sangachal terminal in Azerbaijan, Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan
pipeline and the Western Route Export Pipeline will continue to
be operated by BP.
BP is leading the international consortium developing
Azerbaijan's giant Shah Deniz field, which is expected to make
its first deliveries to Europe this year via the Southern Gas
Corridor, of which the SCP is a part.
The network also consists of two other pipelines - the
Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) through Turkey and
the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) to Greece, Albania and Italy.
The Shah Deniz I field, which has been pumping gas since
2006, has production capacity of 8 billion cubic metres (bcm).
Output from Shah Deniz II is expected to reach 16 bcm per year,
with 10 bcm earmarked for Europe and 6 bcm for Turkey.
Its first commercial gas deliveries to Turkey from Shah
Deniz II began in June 2018.
(Reporting by Nailia Bagirova, Writing by Margarita Antidze;
Editing by Jan Harvey)
