BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 5. The first production well was spudded from the new Azeri Central East (ACE) platform yesterday, a source at bp told Trend.
This follows the safe completion of all offshore hook up, installation and commissioning of the ACE topsides unit which sailed away from the Bayil fabrication yard in August 2023, the company said.
According to bp, the well is planned to reach a total depth of up to 3,188 metres, which is expected to take around three months.
"We are excited to commence drilling the first platform production well on ACE. This allows us to meet our first oil production target for ACE and deliver it in early 2024. A great deal of preparation has been made to assure a safe and robust drilling programme using our experience, as well as our innovative approach, automated processes, and advanced technology. We look forward to delivering this first ACE production well safely, efficiently and on schedule," Gary Jones, bp’s regional president for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, said in this regard.
Meanwhile, the ACE is 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 of137 meters. The project also includes 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.