BP publishes six-month production figures for Azerbaijan
By Aynur Jafarova
The production on the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) field in the Azerbaijani section of the Caspian Sea amounted to 672,000 barrels per day (nearly 122 million barrels or 16.4 million tons in total) in the first half of 2013, according to the British BP's official report on results of activity in Azerbaijan in January-June, 2013 said.
The production was conducted in the platforms of Chirag, Central Azeri, Western Azeri, Eastern Azeri and Deepwater Guneshli fields.
According to the report, BP, which acts as an operator of the ACG development project, around 72 producing and 31 injection wells were under operation in this period.
Around 17 wells (about 12 producing wells and 5 wells for water pumping) were under operation in the Chirag field and the average daily production in the field amounted to 73,000 barrels.
Around 21 wells (about 16 producing, 5 gas injecting and 1 water injecting wells) operated in the Central Azeri field in the first half of 2013. The average daily production amounted to 152,000 barrels in the field.
About 23 wells (18 producing and 5 water injecting wells) were under operation in the Western Azeri field. The average daily production amounted to 194,000 barrels for this period.
About 18 wells (14 producing and 4 water injecting wells) were under operation in the Eastern Azeri field. The average daily production amounted to 118,000 barrels in the first six months of 2013.
About 24 wells (13 producing and 11 water injecting wells) were under operation in Deepwater Guneshli field and the average daily production amounted to 135,000 barrels.
Earlier BP reported in its annual report that the daily volume of production at the ACG field in 2012 amounted to 664,400 barrels of oil (243.2 million barrels or 32.9 million tons per year).
According to the results of last year, around 3.4 billion cubic meters of gas was produced by Azerbaijan's state energy company SOCAR, which exceeded the company's projections by 13 percent.
The overall operating expenses of the ACG field amounted to $725 million last year, and capital expenses made up $2.495 billion. According to the company's estimates for 2013, the volume of operating expenses on the ACG field will amount to $758 million and capital expenses - $2.514 billion.
The giant ACG block of fields has been producing since 1997. The production started from the Chirag part of the field and continues successfully. This was followed by the Azeri Project: Central Azeri production started in February 2005, West Azeri began producing in December 2005, and East Azeri came on stream in October 2006. The Deepwater Gunashli section launched production in April 2008.
Equity participation in the ACG contract is as follows: BP (operator) with 35.78 percent, Chevron with 11.27 percent, Inpex with 10.96 percent, AzACG with 11.65 percent, Statoil with 8.56 percent, Exxon with 8 percent, TPAO with 6.75 percent, Itochu with 4.3 percent; Hess has sold its 2.72 percent share to India's ONGC.
The BP's report also said that the volume of gas production from Azerbaijan's giant Shah Deniz field in the Caspian Sea amounted to 4.8 billion cubic meters of gas and 1.26 million tons of condensate (about 10 million barrels) in the first half of 2013.
According to the report, the daily production from the Shah Deniz field amounted to approximately 27 million cubic meters of gas and 54,800 barrels of condensate in this period.
In the first six months of 2013 the operating expenses within the project amounted to $94 million while capital expenses hit $855 million. The volume of approved operating expenses will amount to $225 million and capital expenses are forecast at $2.31 billion in 2013, the report said.
According to the report, approximately 42.7 billion cubic meters of gas and 11.3 million tons of condensate (90 million barrels) were delivered to the world markets from 2006 to the first half of 2013.
The peak production from the field within the first stage of development is forecasted at the level of nine billion cubic meters of gas and 50,000 barrels of condensate.
Earlier BP reported in its annual report that the volume of gas production from the Shah Deniz field amounted to approximately 7.73 billion cubic meters of gas and nearly 16.1 million barrels of condensate in 2012.
The Shah Deniz field, which is one of the world's largest gas-condensate fields, was discovered in 1999. Its reserves are estimated at 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas. Overall, the field has proved to be a secure and reliable supplier of gas to Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey as well as Europe.
Azerbaijan is an important current and future supplier of both oil and natural gas. The country's share in global oil production last year totaled 1.1 percent.
South Caucasus Gas Pipeline
According to BP's report, the volume of capital expenditures to the South Caucasus Gas Pipeline (Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum pipeline) amounted to $5 million in the first half of 2013.
It is forecasted that the total volume of the capital expenditures to the South Caucasus Gas Pipeline this year will amount to $13 million compared to $11 million in the previous year.
In the first half-year the average daily pipeline capacity was 12 million cubic meters, or more than 73 million barrels of oil equivalent, the report said.
The length of the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum Gas Pipeline exceeds 700
kilometers. The pipeline transports the gas produced in the Shah
Deniz gas condensate field located in the Azerbaijani sector of the
Caspian Sea. Gas is supplied to Georgia and Turkey. Azerbaijan
appears as a buyer of gas as well.
The country's main gas pipelines transported 10 billion cubic
meters of gas in the first half of 2013.