Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

British energy giant BP, which operates the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) oil fields in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea, delivered 1.21 billion cubic meters of associated gas to Azerbaijan's state energy company SOCAR in the first half of 2013, according to BP's report on the results of operations in Azerbaijan in January-June 2013.

The associated gas is delivered to SOCAR free of charge within the framework of the development of the ACG block of fields.

According to the company, the figure corresponds to the volume of gas envisaged for transfer to SOCAR over the entire year 2013. The planned transfer of gas for this year amounts to 1.24 billion cubic meters.

The report said the average daily volume of gas transferred to SOCAR in the first half of the year was 6.7 million cubic meters.

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.

According to BP's report, the expenditure on implementing contracts and orders under the projects operated by BP in Azerbaijan totaled $1.02 billion in the first half of 2013.

The report said the expenditure on fulfilling the contracts of small and medium-sized enterprises totaling 347 reached $396 million, state-owned companies (29) at $77 million, and joint ventures with local partners (12) at $274 million. The spending of foreign contractors in the country amounted to $276 million in January-June.

In this period, around $1.44 million was spent on social responsibility projects. In particular, expenses amounted to $0.26 million within the ACG project, $0.26 million in the development of Azerbaijan's giant Shah Deniz field in the Caspian Sea, and $0.52 million in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum pipelines. BP spent $0.4 million on its own social responsibility projects.