The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is extending a senior loan of US$200m to LUKOIL Overseas Shah Deniz, a wholly-owned subsidiary of LUKOIL Overseas, the operator of LUKOIL's overseas upstream projects. The proceeds of the loan will be used to further develop Stage 1 of the offshore Shah Deniz gas and condensate field in Azerbaijan. The current loan will pay for part of a technological upgrade of existing operations, which could see output from the field increase by up to 2 bcm/year. This increase will see peak production from the gas field reach 8.9 bcm/year. For comparison, Azerbaijan itself consumes 13 bcm/year of gas. The Shah Deniz consortium comprises BP (as operator), Statoil, LUKOIL, SOCAR, Total, NICO and TPAO. LUKOIL owns 10% of the gas field. Gas and condensate from the field are transported via the South Caucasus gas pipeline and the BTC oil pipeline respectively, to Turkey through Georgia.