A consortium led by BP and the South Caucasus Pipeline Co. announced this week that it has given a construction contract worth $735 million to a group of companies that will help build the Shah Deniz II gas project in Azerbaijan.

Shah Deniz is being developed by a consortium that includes BP, Norway's Statoil and Azeri state energy company SOCAR. While Shaz Deniz I has been pumping gas since 2006, Shah Deniz II is aimed at offering Europe an alternative to Russian gas, Reuters reports.

The latest contract was reportedly awarded to a consortium consisting of Azeri firm Azfen and Amsterdam-based Saipem Contracting Netherlands.

"We are pleased that both Shah Deniz phase 2 and SCPX (South Caucasus Pipeline Expansion) projects are moving ahead across all areas," Gordon Birrell, BP's president for the Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey region, said, according to Reuters.

Work on the project is set to begin in January, with mechanical completion of the Georgian section expected by the end of 2016 and the Azerbaijan section by the end of 2017.