Azernews.Az

By Gulgiz Dadashova

British BP, an operator developing the block of oil and gas fields in Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) and Shah Deniz gas condensate field, expressed satisfaction with the projects implementation in Azerbaijan in 2014.

BP's President for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey Gordon Birrell told reporters that great successes have been achieved in the areas of labor protection, safety operations, environmental protection, as well as reducing the flared gas volume and reservoir water management.

"We are also pleased with the production results,” he said. “As we approach the year's end, we are more confident that this year’s indices will be higher than our expectation."

Birrell did not disclose the exact volume.

“Maintenance works scheduled for 2015 are expected to be carried out on time,” he said. “Discussions are still underway on the working plan and the budget of both the ACG and Shah Deniz.”

"The entire maintenance work is part of our operation,” he said. “The old equipment are replaced. The relevant systems are being examined. The necessary works are conducted for the platforms, equipment and facilities to meet the safety requirements."

Earlier, BP launched the "Central Azeri" platform which was stopped for a scheduled maintenance operation. The platform will work to its full capacity in the coming days.

The contract for the development of Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli large offshore field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea, with proven oil reserve of nearly 1 billion metric tons, was signed in 1994.

Shares in the contract for development of Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli block of fields are distributed as follows: BP (operator in Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli) - 35.78 percent, Chevron - 11.27 percent, Inpex - 10.96 percent, AzACG - 11.65 percent, Statoil - 8.56 percent, Exxon - 8 percent, TPAO - 6.75 percent, Itochu - 4.3 percent and ONGC - 2.72 percent.

Birrell also didn’t exclude the possibility of using the new generation drilling rig at ACG. It is being constructed in Azerbaijan to meet the needs of Azerbaijan’s energy company SOCAR. However, this issue is still under discussion.

"The rig has not been constructed yet,” he said. “But, now we have no plans regarding a new rig."

The contract for the development of the offshore field Shah Deniz, which has proven reserves of 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas, was signed June 4, 1996.

The share distribution among the agreement parties (after SOCAR’s and BP’s acquisition of Statoil’s share in the project) is as follows: BP (operator) - 28.8 percent, Statoil – 15.5 percent, NICO - 10 percent, Total - 10 percent, Lukoil - 10 percent, TPAO - nine percent, and SOCAR – 16.7 percent.

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