Chirag project to include new platform by year-end
By Aynur Jafarova
BP plans to commission a new platform within the Chirag Oil Project by the end of the year.
The news was announced by the British company on November 22.
Commissioning work and testing is currently underway within the framework of the project, BP told Baku-based Trend news agency.
"All the work envisaged under this project will be completed by late 2013," the company said.
The support block and topsides of the new platform have been moved out to the sea for installation.
The $6 billion Chirag Oil Project is the next major step in the ongoing development of the ACG field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea.
The project is planned to increase oil production and recovery from the ACG field through a new offshore facility - West Chirag platform, which is designed to fill a critical gap in the field infrastructure between the existing Deepwater Gunashli (DWG) and Chirag platforms.
Over 300 million barrels of oil is planned to be produced during the implementation of the project.
The giant AGC block of oil and gas fields in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea has been producing since 1997. 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.
Daily production in the ACG fields was an average of 663,200 barrels per day (bpd), BP said.