Oil services group Expro lands Shah Deniz contract

READING, England, April 23 (UPI) -- Oilfield services company Expro said Wednesday it won a contract to help BP develop Phase II of the Shah Deniz gas field in the Azeri waters of the Caspian Sea.

Expro said it landed a five-year contract worth an estimated $100 million to supply control systems for subsea wells associated with the gas development at Shah Deniz.

In March, the BP-led consortium awarded $841 million worth of construction and engineering contracts for work in a gas field expected to help break the Russian grip on the region's energy sector.

Shah Deniz is serviced by British energy company BP and the State Oil Co. of Azerbaijan Republic. BP and SOCAR in December said they'd invest around $28 billion in developing the second stage of the offshore natural gas field.

Last year, the BP-led consortium selected the Trans-Adriatic pipeline as its conduit for European consumers.

By the end of 2019, European customers will get more than 350 billion cubic feet of natural gas per year from the so-called Southern Corridor of gas transit networks, which includes a pipeline from Azerbaijan.