The field is located 90 km offshore Azerbaijan, in water depths between 75 m and 550 m.
The contract’s scope of work includes the transportation and installation of jackets, topsides, and subsea production systems and structures, the laying of over 360 km of pipelines, diving-support services, and the upgrade of the pipelay barge Israfil Huseinov, dive-support vessel Tofiq Ismailov, and derrick barge Azerbaijan .
The project will be completed by the end of 2017.
Commenting on the award, Saipem CEO Umberto Vergine said “The Caspian (Sea) is a strategic area for the oil and gas industry, and we have been working in the region since 1996.
“We have built a solid and unique presence in the area thanks to our capabilities and expertise in large and complex offshore projects, and I’m very pleased that Saipem will be involved in the development of Shah Deniz Stage II, which will ultimately deliver gas to Europe.”
The Shah Deniz consortium announced the final investment decision (FID) for the Stage II development of the Shah Deniz gas field in December, 2013, triggering plans to expand the South Caucasus Pipeline through Azerbaijan and Georgia, to construct the Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline (TANAP) across Turkey, and to construct the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) across Greece, Albania, and into Italy. Together these projects, as well as gas-transmission infrastructure to Bulgaria, will create a new southern gas corridor to Europe.
The Shah Deniz project entails several elements: offshore it includes drilling and completion of 26 subsea wells and construction of two bridge-linked platforms; onshore there will be new processing and compression facilities at Sangachal, south of Baku, Azerbaijan.
The total cost of the Shah Deniz Stage II and South Caucasus Pipeline expansion projects will be approximately $US28 billion. 16 Bcm/a of gas produced from the Shah Deniz field will be transported 3,500 km to provide energy for millions of consumers in Georgia, Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, and Italy. First gas is targeted for late 2018 to Georgia and Turkey, with first deliveries to Europe to follow approximately a year later.
Condensate production from the Shah Deniz field is expected to increase to 120 Mbbl/d from current levels of approximately 55 Mbbl/d.