BAKU: Azerbaijan said Thursday it started gas deliveries to Europe from the Shah Deniz field in the Caspian Sea, part of a project aimed at reducing European dependence on Russian supplies.

The Shah Deniz consortium led by British oil giant BP said in a statement that gas from the field had arrived via the newly completed Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) pipeline system.

Deliveries to Europe through the Trans Adriatic Pipeline, the consortium said, “marks the full integration of the entire SGC gas value chain, stretching 3,500 kilometres from Azerbaijan to Europe.” The giant Shah Deniz field off the coast of energy-rich Azerbaijan was discovered in 1999 and was estimated by BP to hold about one trillion cubic metres of natural gas.—AFP