SGC receives waiver from U.S. sanctions against Iran's energy customers
New U.S. sanctions against Iran have not been referred to the Southern Gas Corridor, S&P Global Platts news reported in accordance with the decision of U.S. President Trump.
New U.S. sanctions against Iran have not been referred to the Southern Gas Corridor, S&P Global Platts news reported in accordance with the decision of U.S. President Trump.
BP had been seeking a sanctions waiver for its development of Azerbaijan's offshore Shah Deniz fields, the source of the Southern Gas Corridor's natural gas. Iran's NICO holds a 10 percent share in the second phase of Shah Deniz, potentially triggering U.S. sanctions against Iran petroleum sector investment.
U.S. energy sector sanctions being re-imposed November 4 will ban companies from the U.S. financial system if they continue to do business with Iran. A delegation from the U.S. is expected to travel to different countries in the Middle East to hold talks on the sanctions against the Iranian oil. However, the United States will also consider applying concessions to some countries on sanctions against oil imports from Iran.
Trump's order contained a "natural gas project exception" that describes the Southern Gas Corridor without naming it.
A ceremony to launch Phase 0 of TANAP took place on June 12 in the Turkish city of Eskisehir.
TANAP, together with TransAdriatic Pipeline (TAP), is a part of the Southern Gas Corridor, which provides for the transportation of gas from the Azerbaijani field Shah Deniz to Europe.
The initial capacity of TANAP is expected to be 16 billion cubic meters of gas per year. About six billion cubic meters will be supplied to Turkey, and the rest to Europe. After completion of the TAP, the gas will reach Europe in early 2020.
Works on the Phase-0 TANAP project, the first natural gas delivery to Turkey have been completed. The first commercial gas supply to Turkey has been started on June 30 from Shah Deniz 2.
Total capital expenditure on the Shah Deniz-2 project is currently $22.7 billion, and $17.8 billion has been spent on this project by the end of May. The cost of the SCPX project is $4.5 billion and $4.2 billion has been spent on the project by the end of May. The cost of the TANAP project is $8 billion and $5.5 billion has been spent on the project by the end of May. The TAP project costs € 4.5 billion, and by the end of May € 3 billion have been spent on this project.
The share distribution in TANAP is as follows: Southern Gas Corridor CJSC - 51 percent, SOCAR Turkey Enerji - 7 percent, Botas - 30 percent, and BP - 12 percent.
A total of 94.8 percent of total TANAP work and 74.6 per cent of TAPs have been fulfilled.
The launching ceremony of the first stage of the Southern Gas Corridor project was held in Baku on May 29.
The gas from the Azerbaijani Shah Deniz field has already gone through the first segment of the Southern Gas Corridor - from the Sangachal terminal to the expanded South Caucasus Pipeline.
The Southern Gas Corridor, which costs more than $40 billion, is one of the priority projects for the EU and provides for the transportation of 10 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas from the Caspian region through Georgia and Turkey to Europe.