AIOC inks new contracts within ACE project
By Leman Mammadova
Azerbaijan International Operating Company (AIOC) has signed new service contracts within the Azeri Central East project (ACE), which is the next stage in the development of the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli giant block (ACG) in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea.
The company signed four contracts for a total of about $236 million for the engineering and construction of subsea facilities, units, pipelines, for delivery to the sea of piles of the support block, the support block and the topside modules of the new ACE platform.
In particular, a contract worth $36 million has been signed with the consortium Subsea7 (Deep Sea) / BOS Shelf LLC / Star Gulf FZCO for the detailed engineering, supply, construction and installation of subsea structures and units. The Paris office of Subsea7 will carry out engineering work, while all construction and installation work will be performed at the Heydar Aliyev Baku Deepwater Jackets Plant (BDJP).
Engineering work has already commenced, installation work will be completed in 2022.
At the same time, a contract at a total value of $112 million has been signed with the same consortium for the transportation and installation of the support block and topside modules of the ACE offshore platform. In accordance with the agreement, all engineering work will also be carried out by the Paris office of Subsea7, construction and installation work will be carried out at BDJP.
In addition, AIOC attracted the consortium Saipem Contracting Netherlands BV / BOS Shelf LLC / Star Gulf FZCO as a contractor for the detailed design, engineering support of installation works, construction and installation of subsea pipelines for the transportation of oil, gas, formation water and pipelines for water injection. The cost of the signed contract is about $51 million.
Detailed design and engineering support for installation work will be implemented by Saipem offices in London and Rijeka. Construction and production work will be carried out at the State Budgetary Educational Institution, and the pipelines will be laid using the Israfil Huseynov barge. Engineering work under the contract has already begun, installation work will be completed in 2021.
Another contract has been signed with the consortium Saipem Contracting Netherlands B.V/ «BOS Shelf»/“Star Gulf FZCO” for the transportation and installation of piles of the support block and the first two batches of subsea structures and units offshore, in the area of the future location of the new ACE platform and the East Azeri and Central Azeri platforms. The contract value is $37 million. Installation works are planned for 2020.
ACE project targets to achieve daily production at the peak of up to 100,000 barrels of oil and 350,000 cubic feet of gas.
The project is centred 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.
In addition, there will be a water injection pipeline installed between the East Azeri and ACE platforms to supply injection water from the Central Azeri compression and water injection platform to the ACE facilities.
Recently, AIOC has signed contracts worth $1.7 billion for design and construction of facilities, including engineering, fabrication and construction, project management and other services, within the framework of the ACE project. The contracts have been concluded following the project final investment decision in April 2019.
As of April 19, 2019, the shareholders of the ACG field block development project signed a final investment decision on the ACE project. 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.
Construction activities, which will commence this year and run through mid-2022, will take place in-country utilizing local resources. It is expected that at peak, construction activities will create up to 8,000 jobs.
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Leman Mammadova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @leman_888
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