The final investment decision on the Shah Deniz Compression project in Azerbaijan is expected to be made in the second half of this year—near the end of the year, Head of bp Azerbaijan-Georgia-Türkiye Communications Department Tamam Bayatli said at the public discussion of the Environmental and Socio-Economic Impact Assessment (ESIA) draft document of the SDC project today, Trend reports.

She mentioned that the nitty-gritty, like the project's price tag, the contractors in the mix, and the location where it will rise, will come to light at that time.

"Later, the implementation of the project will begin. Shah Deniz is one of the largest gas projects not only in Azerbaijan but also in the world.

Overall, it is bp's largest gas field discovery. It is a great honor for bp to be the operator of this large-scale gas project in Azerbaijan," she added.

To note, the Shah Deniz (SD) Contract Area is a high-pressure gas-condensate field situated in the Azerbaijani portion of the Caspian Sea. The development of the SD Contract Area, controlled by bp Exploration (Azerbaijan) Limited on behalf of the other members of the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) consortium, is being executed in phases and has thus far encompassed the SD Stage 1 Project (SD1). The SD2 Project signifies the second phase of development inside the SD Contract Area, with the SD2 Infrastructure Project becoming the initial substantial undertaking onshore. The objective of the SD2 Project is to enhance the extraction of gas and condensate reserves in the offshore Shah Deniz Contract Area. The SD2 Infrastructure Project includes the necessary preparations for the building of the new SD2 Project onshore facilities. The SD2 Expansion Area will offer processing facilities for the SD2 Project and will augment production above the SD1's projected 900 million standard cubic feet per day.