Azerbaijan, Baku, December 5 / Trend , E.Ismaylov /
In spring 2010, SOCAR (State Oil Company of Azerbaijan) plans to put into operation a compressor station on the platform Guneshli-4 on the Guneshli offshore field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea, the deputy director on environmental affairs of Azneft production unit Faig Jafarov said on Dec. 5.
"In principle, the construction work has been completed and is currently commissioning is underway. In April-May next year, we plan to put the compressor station into full operation," said Jafarov. The capacity of the compressor station is four million cubic meters of gas per day.
Jafarov said that currently an independent validator conducts assessment and monitoring of the volume of associated gas emitted into the atmosphere on the shallow-water Gunashli field. This is necessary within the Kyoto Protocol of the United Nations.
The validation process for Gunashli field is held by certification bureau Veritas.
As a result of a new compressor station installed on the "Guneshli-4" platform, "low pressure gas emissions will be reduced by 90 percent, SOCAR Vice-President on Ecology, Mukhtar Babayev said earlier.
SOCAR intends to collect the associated gas of low pressure in the shallow part of the Guneshli field. After pressing out (increase of the pressure), the gas will be transferred to the Azerbaijani gas processing plant or to the national gas transmission system and supplied to customers.
Previously, this gas was emitted into the air, causing great harm to the environment due to lack of infrastructure. The cost of construction of necessary infrastructure and realization of this project is estimated at $150 million.
The volume of gas emissions from the Guneshli field varies between 150 and 250 million cubic meters per year.
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