Shah Deniz Stage 2

The next phase of development of Shah Deniz – Shah Deniz 2 – was sanctioned in 2013 and has proved to be one of the largest and most complex gas projects in the world. It represents the first subsea development in the Caspian Sea and the largest subsea infrastructure operated by bp worldwide. Shah Deniz Stage 2, one of the largest gas developments in the world, is also a gateway to the Southern Gas Corridor(SGC) that delivers natural gas from the Caspian Sea directly to European markets for the first time.

Offshore, the Shah Deniz 2 project includes 26 subsea wells, 500km of subsea pipelines and flowlines and a new bridge-linked double platform. Gas is transported onshore through an 85 km pipeline to the Sangachal terminal, which underwent a major expansion to accommodate the new increased gas output. The project also expanded SCP - 428km of new pipeline in Azerbaijan and 59km in Georgia, including three new compression facilities pushing the gas across its 3,500 km long journey to Europe.

At plateau, Shah Deniz 2 will produce 16 billion cubic meters of gas per year (bcma). Together with output from the first phase of development, total production from the Shah Deniz field will be up to 26 bcma of gas and over 100,000 barrels of condensate a day.

With the launch of SGC, Shah Deniz commenced the delivery of significant new energy supplies to Europe, further diversifying its sources of energy and providing new supplies of natural gas which will be essential in the energy transition.

After achieving significant commissioning and completion milestones across the whole gas value chain at the beginning of 2018, the Southern Gas Corridor official inauguration event was held at the Sangachal Terminal on 29 May 2018. This was followed by the commencement of commercial gas deliveries to Turkey from the Shah Deniz 2 development project as planned on 30 June 2018.

On 30 July 2018, the wing valve on the North Flank subsea well SDC-03Z was opened, marking the first production from the Shah Deniz Bravo platform. This milestone marked the very first production from a subsea well in the Caspian, a significant achievement, which has been delivered safely, below budget and ahead of schedule. The Bravo facility is now exporting gas and condensate to the onshore terminal at Sangachal. 

On 31 December 2020, Shah Deniz celebrated a significant achievement by commencing first ever commercial gas deliveries to European markets via the newly-completed Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) pipeline system. The Shah Deniz field is the starting point of SGC and the commencement of gas deliveries to Europe from Shah Deniz marks the full integration of the entire SGC gas value chain, stretching 3,500 kilometres from Azerbaijan to Europe. With this important achievement Shah Deniz represents a new source of energy supply for Europe diversifying its energy market and strengthening its energy security.

In the fourth quarter of 2025, Shah Deniz 2 progressed with the subsea execution scope of the remaining wells on the East North flank.

In 2025, the subsea construction vessel Khankendi continued to provide life-of-field support, covering services, surveys, and interventions across all of the Shah Deniz 2 and ACG subsea producing assets. In the fourth quarter, the vessel successfully completed its class survey and general maintenance, which included thruster repairs. During the Khankendi dry dock period, the diving support vessel Tofig Ismayilov took on the first responder role to ensure continuity of operations.
 

While the Shah Deniz 2 activities, including the delivery of the remaining wells within the project, remain the primary mission for the Khankendi, the vessel is currently involved in a multi-well subsea intervention campaign in the ACG Deepwater Gunashli area supporting early identification of opportunities for pressure management and production rate enhancement of ACG. The campaign uses vessel-based riserless light well intervention system which has been integrated onto the Khankendi to conduct all interventions.
 
This is part of the integrated schedule ensuring the efficient utilization of the vessel and drilling rigs, in order to optimize activities and accelerate well start-up dates.

Drilling

The Shah Deniz 2 project progressed with the wells programme activities using the Istiglal and Heydar Aliyev rigs. During the quarter, the Istiglal rig carried out additional perforation work on the SDG03 well and started log and tieback run activities on the SDD05 well on the West flank. The Heydar Aliyev rig continued drilling the SDH05 well on the East North flank.
 

In total, 23 wells have been drilled for Shah Deniz 2 to date. These include five wells on the North flank, five wells on the West flank, four wells on the East South flank, five wells on the West South flank and four wells on the East North flank.