Last year, gas production in the Shah Deniz field in Azerbaijan exceeded the plan, and now the work is continuing so that it reaches a new record level by the end of the year, Bakhtiyar Aslanbayli, Vice President for Communications and External Relations in the Caspian and Middle East region, BP (British company, the operator of the project) said, Interfax-Azerbaijan reports.

According to him, it is being optimized that will enable to resolve any emerging issues as soon as possible. Besides, the work on the exploration well to assess the potential of gas resources of deeper horizons has started.

If the assumptions are confirmed, BP will be ready to further increase production. The relevance of exploration of new reserves increases given the changes in the gas market in Europe, which seeks to diversify gas supplies as much as possible and to move away from dependence on Russia.

Gas production from the Shah Deniz field in 2022 was 25.2 billion cubic meters, an increase of 11.5 percent compared to the year before. Of that, 20.8 billion cubic meters were exported, an increase of 18.1 percent.

By 2027, Azerbaijan is ready to double its gas supplies to Europe. Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia asked the European Commission to help build the relevant infrastructure.