Equinor plans to expand activity in Azerbaijan
By Mirsaid Ibrahimzade
The Norwegian international energy company Equinor has stated on their website that the decision to add one platform to Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) block of oil and gas fields in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea is contributing to Equinor’s international strategy.
The remarks came on the occasion of the decision to approve the $6 billion worth Azeri Central East (ACE) project, the next stage of development of the giant ACG field.
"Equinor has been creating significant value in Azerbaijan over many years, and we are excited to reach this milestone. Together with operator BP we are eager to contribute to safe operations that will provide cash flow to Equinor for many years," said Torgrim Reitan, Executive Vice President for Development & Production International (DPI) at Equinor.
Additionally Equinor is targeting to seize other opportunities in Azerbaijan.
“Equinor and partner SOCAR are planning to drill an appraisal well later this year in the Karabagh license, a discovery from 2000,” said the company.
Following the drilling in Karabagh, the plan is to drill the Aypara exploration well in the Ashrafi, Dan Ulduzu and Aypara licence, according to Equinor.
It is noteworthy that the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) and Statoil Azerbaijan, which is part of the Equinor group, signed a Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) for the development of the above wells in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea.
The Karabakh oil and gas field is located 130 kilometers east of Baku. The initial oil reserves of the field are estimated at 100 million tons.
As for Azeri Central East, this is the largest oil and gas field in the Caspian Sea, covering more than 432 square kilometers.
ACE project is centered on a new 48-slot production, drilling and quarters platform located mid-way between the existing Central Azeri and East Azeri platforms in a water depth of approximately 140 meters. The project will also include new infield pipelines to transfer oil and gas from the ACE platform to the existing ACG Phase 2 oil and gas export pipelines for transportation to the onshore Sangachal Terminal.
The $6 billion development includes a new offshore platform and facilities designed to process up to 100,000 barrels of oil per day. The project is expected to achieve first production in 2023 and produce up to 300 million barrels over its lifetime.
ACG participating interests are as follows: BP (30.37 percent), SOCAR (25.0 percent), Chevron (9.57 percent), INPEX (9.31 percent), Equinor (7.27 percent), ExxonMobil (6.79 percent), TPAO (5.73 percent), ITOCHU (3.65 percent), ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) (2.31 percent).
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Mirsaid Ibrahimzade is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @MirsaidIbrahim1
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