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BP hands out more contracts for Azeri gas project

Gas in the Caspian Sea seen as opportunity to diversity the European energy sector.

By Daniel J. Graeber
BP hands out a contract worth more than $1 billion to help build the infrastructure needed to draw gas from the Azeri waters of the Caspian Sea. Photo courtesy of BP
BP hands out a contract worth more than $1 billion to help build the infrastructure needed to draw gas from the Azeri waters of the Caspian Sea. Photo courtesy of BP

BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 3 (UPI) -- A BP subsidiary trying to pull gas from offshore Azerbaijan said it doled out a $1.5 billion contract to help get gas flowing within the next two years.

BP, working on behalf of a consortium managing the Shah Deniz natural gas field in the Caspian Sea, said it awarded the contract to a build a vessel that will transport and install the production systems for the project. The bulk of the contract goes to Italian contractor Saipem, which in April secured a contract to help build the Trans-Adriatic natural gas pipeline from offshore Azerbaijan to Italy.

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"This major contract award for the installation of subsea production systems underpins our commitment to deploy new advanced subsea production technology for the first time to the Caspian," Frank Wilson, a vice president in charge of Azeri gas developments for BP, said in a statement.

Saipem has worked alongside BP at the Shah Deniz field offshore Azerbaijan since 2014. In a separate statement, the Italian company said the string of contracts awarded thus far solidifies its position as a central player in European energy diversification schemes.

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The Trans-Adriatic pipeline will start delivering gas from the Shah Deniz gas project to European consumers in 2019. TAP would connect to the Trans-Anatolian natural gas project running through Turkey to the Greek border.

TAP is part of the network of pipelines included in the Southern Corridor of gas programs meant to diversify a European energy sector dependent on Russia. BP said it expects to start drawing gas from the second phase of the Shah Deniz gas field within the next two years.

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