The engineers behind the Shah Deniz 2 project, delivering gas from Azerbaijan to Europe direct for the first time, have received the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Major Project Award for 2019 for their collaboration to deliver this complex major offshore, onshore and pipeline gas development project, Trend reports citing the Royal Academy of Engineering.

The award was presented at the Academy Awards Dinner in London on 11 July.

The report said that Shah Deniz 2 will help Europe satisfy its future energy demand and play a major role in the continent’s transition to a lower carbon economy.

"The engineering excellence of the Shah Deniz 2 project alone makes it stand out as an example of collaboration and cross-national cooperation. It is a world class project, connecting six countries and linking communities, people, and cultures in a common endeavour. It provides new and secure energy from Azerbaijan that unlocks isolated markets in the region and has served as a catalyst to building skills and development in the region. It has been a great joy for me to witness some of the extraordinary engineering BP continuously achieves to the highest standard through Shah Deniz 2. I congratulate all of the company’s past and present engineers whose work creates such outcomes,” said Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne, the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Azerbaijan, Iraq, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.

Shah Deniz Stage 2, or Full Field Development (FFD) is a giant project that will add a further 16 billion cubic meters per year (bcma) of gas production to the approximately 10 bcma produced by Shah Deniz Stage 1.