Gas Transportation

Currently, four major gas pipelines transport natural gas produced in Azerbaijan to the energy markets of various neighbouring regions:

-    Hajigabul-Astara Pipeline (Iran);
-    Hajigabul-Gazakh-Saguramo Pipeline (Georgia);
-    Hajigabul-Shirvanovka-Mozdok Pipeline (Russia);
-    Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum Pipeline (Georgia and Turkey).

Hajigabul-Astara Pipeline (Iran) 

With a total length of 210 km, this gas pipeline entered into service in 1970 and was used to supply gas from Iran to the former USSR. In 2006, operations began on swapping the direction of supply, so that Azerbaijan now exports gas to Iran along this same pipeline. Iran, in turn, supplies gas to the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.

Hajigabul-Gazakh-Saguramo Pipeline (Georgia)

The Hajigabul-Gazakh-Saguramo Main Gas Pipeline was constructed in 1978 and operational until 1988. After the collapse of the USSR, this pipeline remained unused for many years. After repairs and restoration, it was put into operation again in 2006.

The pipeline, with a capacity of 8.7 bcm/year, exports about 1,300 million cubic metres of gas per year from Azerbaijan to Georgia. The pipeline is 478.4 km long, 378.4 km of which is in the territory of Azerbaijan.

The operators of the Hajigabul-Gazakh-Saguramo Main Gas Pipeline are SOCAR and the Georgian Gas Transportation Company.

Hajigabul-Shirvanovka-Mozdok Pipeline

From 1983, this pipeline was used to transport gas from Russia to Azerbaijan. Since 2007, following an increase in the volume of gas produced by Azerbaijan (beyond national demand), this pipeline has not been used intensively.

According to agreements on the export of certain volumes of gas produced in Azerbaijan to Russia in 2010-2014, the Hajigabul-Mozdok Main Pipeline has been used for the export of gas in the opposite direction. 

The pipeline has an annual capacity of 10 bcm. It is 680 km long, 200 km of which is in the territory of Azerbaijan. The operators of this pipeline are SOCAR and Gazprom (Russia).

The South Caucasus Pipeline

After the discovery of the Shah Deniz gas condensate field in 1999, the shareholders of the Shah Deniz consortium decided on the construction of a new main pipeline to transport natural gas to the Turkish market via Baku, Tbilisi and Erzurum (BTE).

In order to arrange and manage the construction of the main pipeline along the BTE route, the Shah Deniz consortium created the South Caucasus Pipeline (SCP) project in 2003 and established a company with the same name.

The South Caucasus Pipeline was installed in parallel to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline. The first exported gas was pumped in March 2007 within the first phase of the Shah Deniz project, which had started in 2006.

The South Caucasus Pipeline has a capacity of 7.4 bcma (expandable to 23 bcma). It is 980 km, 443 km of which is in Azerbaijan, 248 km in Georgia and 289 km in Turkey. The operators of the pipeline are SOCAR, BP and BOTAS.