BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 5. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline project was implemented thanks to the determination of Heydar Aliyev, and the Southern Gas Corridor - thanks to the determination of President Ilham Aliyev, bp’s Vice President for the Caspian region, Communications and External Affairs Bakhtiyar Aslanbayli said during panel discussions on the topic "Energy Strategy of Heydar Aliyev" within the framework of the international conference on the topic "Priorities of the Foreign Policy of the national leader of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev", organized by the Center for Analysis of International Relations and the Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, TurkicWorld reports.

Aslanbayli said that when a question arose about the Southern Gas Corridor, some people smiled because they did not believe in its implementation.

"I also want to mention one more point. Unlike oil, we can only sell gas to countries that have a pipeline. Therefore, it was necessary to conclude long-term contracts with countries. The Shah Deniz-2 project was also implemented due to the fact that a 25-year contract was signed with the countries. We are also proud that such strategic projects as Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli and Shah Deniz were entrusted to BP," he added.

The Shah Deniz (SD) field was discovered in 1999. It is one of the world’s largest gas-condensate fields. It is located on the deep water shelf of the Caspian Sea, 70 km southeast of Baku, in water depths ranging from 50 to 500 m.

bp operates Shah Deniz on behalf of its partners in the Shah Deniz Production Sharing Agreement (PSA).

Shah Deniz is structured as an unincorporated Joint Venture (JV) partnership. bp is the operator of the Shah Deniz JV. Shah Deniz Stage 1 began operations in 2006. It has the capacity to produce around 10 billion cubic meters of gas per annum (bcma) and approximately 50,000 barrels a day of condensate.