South Caucasus Pipeline

The South Caucasus Pipeline (SCP) has been designed to transport natural gas from the Shah Deniz field as well as other fields of the Caspian basin to Turkey and then from Turkey to the European market.

The length of the pipeline is 691km, with 249km in Georgia. On the border the pipeline is tied to the branch line built by the Turkish side, which connects the SCP to the local gas supply system of Erzrum.

Construction of the SCP was completed in 2006. First deliveries of natural to Georgia gas through the SCP commenced in early 2007. In Georgia the SCP follows the route of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) crude oil pipeline on the territory of Georgia.

The total cost of the project totaled to $1bl. The pipeline belongs to the consortium where BP, Statoil, SOCAR, LukOil, NICO, TOTAL and TPAO are partners in the project development. BP is the technical operator of the pipeline while Statoil is the commercial operator.

After completing additional stages of the pipeline development and working at full capacity, the pipeline will transport up to 21 – 24 bcm of natural gas.

According to the project agreement, Georgia is not only a transit country but also a natural gas consumer country.

Georgia has an option to purchase 5% of gas transported from Azerbaijan to Turkey for a favorable price. In addition, for 20 years starting from the project functioning date, Georgia will purchase additional volume of gas about half a million cubic meters, from project investors at a special price.

Project partners: BP, SOCAR, Statoil, LukOil, NIC, Total, TPAO.