Total has signed an agreement to sell its 10% interest in the Shah Deniz field and the South Caucasus Pipeline in Azerbaijan to TPAO, the Turkish state-owned E&P company. The transaction is valued at US$1.5bn (€1.1bn) and is subject to customary approvals.
The offshore Shah Deniz field is located in the Caspian Sea. The first phase of the field started up in 2006 and is currently producing 200,000 boe/d (73 mb/year); gas production is about 10 bcm/year. A second development phase was sanctioned at the end of 2013. Shah Deniz II is expected to produce 16 bcm/year of gas from 2019, of which 10 bcm/year will be sold to Europe and 6 bcm/year to Turkey.
The Shah Deniz field is operated by BP (28.83%) with partners SOCAR (16.67%), Statoil (15.5%), Total (10%), Lukoil (10%), Nico (10%) and TPAO (9%). In Azerbaidjan, Total remains operator of the Absheron offshore field with a 40% share. A significant gas and condensate discovery was made in 2011 on Absheron and Total is now conducting studies to prepare the field development plan.