The Sangachal Terminal is an industrial complex consisting of a

natural gas processing Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the laws, elements and phenomena of the physical world, including life. Although humans are part ...

plant and

oil production plant An oil production plant is a facility which processes production fluids from oil wells in order to separate out key components and prepare them for export. Typical oil well production fluids are a mixture of crude oil, oil, natural gas, gas and pr ...

, located on the coast of the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, described as the List of lakes by area, world's largest lake and usually referred to as a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia: east of the Caucasus, ...

south of

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

History

Construction of the terminal began in 1996 with the Early Oil Project, which foresaw the construction of pipelines to Supsa and Novorossiysk. Oil was first exported in October 1997. The terminal has since been expanded to include the ACG Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3 Oil Trains, BTC's main pumping station and the Shah Deniz gas plant. Facilities at the oil production plant include separators, coalescers, three new crude oil

storage tank Storage tanks are containers that hold liquids or compressed gases. The term can be used for reservoirs (artificial lakes and ponds), and for manufactured containers. The usage of the word "tank" for reservoirs is uncommon in American English ...

s, centrifugal pumps, gas turbine power generators and a central control room.

Sangachal Terminal Expansion Program

The Sangachal Terminal Expansion Program (STEP) was started in November 2001. The construction included 15,000 cubic metre of concrete, 1,600 units of steel structures, of pipe, of cables. Apart from technological works, civil construction included living accommodations for 550 people, cafeteria, movie theater, soccer field, etc. US$1.2-2 billion was spent on the sub-projects realized within the STEP project. The terminal expansion contract was awarded to the Tekfen-Azfen joint venture which employed nearly 4,000 employees for the project, 75% of which were Azerbaijani citizens. With the finalization of the main part of the project, this number was reduced to 1,720 employees.

Technical features

Sangachal Terminal has a processing capacity of and of gas per day (bcfd). The three new crude oil storage tanks added during the STEP have a capacity of each. The overall storage capacity at the terminal is . As of November 2009, the terminal exports . The terminal is operated by a BP led consortium and is one of the largest oil and gas facilities in the world. Other partners are from AIOC, Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, Shah Deniz and South Caucasus Pipeline projects. The terminal receives oil from the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli field and natural gas from the Shah Deniz gas field. The oil is exported via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline to Turkey's Mediterranean coast and via the Baku-Supsa Pipeline and the Baku-Novorossiysk Pipeline to the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

coast. Sangachal Terminal was mentioned in the United States diplomatic cables leak as one of US "critical foreign dependencies".Cable Viewer

References

External links

Sangachal Terminal, Caspian Energy Centre
{{BP BP buildings and structures Oil terminals Natural gas terminals Petroleum industry in Azerbaijan Natural gas in Azerbaijan Energy infrastructure in Azerbaijan Caspian Sea 1997 establishments in Azerbaijan

History

Sangachal Terminal Expansion Program

Technical features

See also

References

External links