Production begins at West Chirag platform

abarrelfull wrote on 30 Jan 2014 22:39
Tags: azerbaijan bp c-asia top upstream

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On January 29, the Azerbaijan International Operating Company (AIOC), operated by BP, announced the start-up of oil production from the West Chirag platform as part of the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) field development in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea.

Start-up of the West Chirag platform completes the Chirag Oil Project (COP) sanctioned in 2010. The production began from one of the pre-drilled wells - J05. The oil will first pass through the newly installed processing facilities on the platform and then will be exported to the Sangachal Terminal via a new in-field pipeline linked to an existing 30” subsea export pipeline. Production will increase as the other pre-drilled wells are brought on line.

The start-up of COP marks a major milestone in the development of the super- giant ACG field. This indicates that with future continual major investments ACG will continue to produce as a world-class reservoir for many decades. Consortium partners are committed to continuing the efforts towards optimization of production and maximization of the field recovery.

The West Chirag platform has been installed at a water depth of about 170 metres between the existing Chirag and Deepwater Gunashli platforms. The design oil capacity of the new platform is 183 thousand barrels per day. The gas export capacity is 285 million standard cubic feet per day. It is to mention that the West Chirag platform fabrication work was fully undertaken in the country using local resources.

ACG participating interests are: BP (operator - 35.8%), SOCAR (11.6%), Chevron (11.3%), INPEX (11%), Statoil (8.6%), ExxonMobil (8%), TPAO (6.8%), ITOCHU (4.3%), ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) (2.7%).

• Production begins at West Chirag platform

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