Autumn 1996 (4.3) Page 35 Shah Deniz Signed Third Major Contract in Caspian Photo: Signing of the Shah Deniz Contract, June 1996. First row (l-r): Guy Arlette, Deputy Minister of Energy and Industry (France); Vladimir Kostyushin, First Deputy Minister of Energy (Russia); Heydar Aliyev, President (Azerbaijan); Tim Eggar, Minister of Energy (UK); Seyid Ali Akbar Hashimi, President of Iranian Oil Company. Second row: Thomas Young, Ambassador (UK); Ömür Orhun, Ambassador (Turkey); Sidgi Süncär, President of Turkish Petroleum Company; Ravin Maganov, VP of LUKoil (Russia). Third row: Philippe Jaffre, President of ELF Aquitane (France); Bayron Grodini, VP of BP (UK); Natig Aliyev, President of SOCAR (Azerbaijan); behind him, Jon Nic Vold, Executive VP of Statoil (Norway). This past June, in conjunction with the 96 Caspian Oil & Gas Exhibition, an agreement was signed to prospect and develop oil the field known as Shah Deniz (note: "Shakh" Deniz is the Russian pronunciation). This is the third major consortium contract that has been signed for fields in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea. The earlier contracts include AIOC Consortium (Azerbaijan International Operating Company) for the Azeri, Chirag and deep-water Gunashli fields which was signed in September 1994; and CIPCO (Caspian International Petroleum Company) was signed for the Karabakh Prospect in November 1995. The contract parties to the development of Shah Deniz include British Petroleum (25.5%); Statoil (25.5%); LUKoil (10%); ELF (10%); National Oil Company Iran (10%); Turkish Petroleum (10%) and SOCAR (9%). Shah Deniz is located in the Caspian 70 km southeast of Baku. The initial investment is expected to run approximately $4 billion. The reserves are estimated at 1.5-3 billion barrels (250-500 million tons) of oil and 2-4 trillion cubic feet (50-100 billion cubic meters) of gas. The expected daily yield is expected to be 300,000 barrels (50,000 tons) of oil and 300 million cubic feet (7.5 million cubic meters) of gas per day. BP will lead the Consortium. Other special guests attending the ceremony besides those in photo included: Anwar Saifullah Khan, Minister of Oil & Natural Resources (Pakistan); Guy Arlette, Deputy Minister of Energy and Industry (France); Lucian Motiu, State Secretary responsible for Oil and Gas, Ministry of Industry (Romania); Baltabay Kuandykov, President of State Oil Company (Kazakhstan); K. Saldastanishvili, Minister for Economic Relations (Georgia); and Jens Stoltenberg, Minister of Industry and Energy (Norway). From Azerbaijan International (4.3) Autumn 1996. © Azerbaijan International 1996. All rights reserved. Back to Index AI 4.3 (Autumn 1996) AI Home | Magazine Choice | Topics | Store | Contact us