Azerbaijan, Baku, May 6 / Trend /
The British company BP, which is the project operator at the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) Fields in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea, is finishing awarding contracts to major construction contractors to increase oil production. BP Azerbaijan reported.
The company also launched activities to prepare installation work on construction sites.
According to the report, the announcement of major construction contracts at Chirag is expected in the second quarter of 2010.
The majority of construction within the Chirag oil project will be implemented in Azerbaijan. In addition, the construction of a drilling platform module will be carried out, which was built abroad for previous projects. Reconstruction work will be realized at the Heydar Aliyev Baku Deep Water Jacket Factory, one production line will be upgraded, and another will be created.
The expected daily volume of gas production from the new platform will be 229 million standard cubic feet (more than 6.5 million cubic meters). The estimated daily volume of gas injection into the platform layer will be 80 million standard cubic feet (about 2.3 million cubic meters). Chirag envisages the construction of a new platform called "West Chirag," the construction of pipelines and various activities on deepwater Guneshli. The platform will be installed at a depth of 170 meters between the already-running production platforms Chirag and Guneshli.
The construction of the new platform is scheduled to begin in late 2010. The Dede Gorgud Rig will perform the drilling. The project is expected to get oil in 2013.
The new Chirag project will add more than 300 million barrels of crude oil to the pipeline during the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli PSA.
The PSA was signed in September 1994. The agreement provides for the development of the contract area within 30 years. The project requires $20 billion investment.
ACG participating interests are: BP (operator - 34.1 percent), Chevron (10.2 percent), SOCAR (10 percent), INPEX (10 percent), StatoilHydro (8.6 percent), ExxonMobil (8 percent), TPAO (6.8 percent), Devon (5.6 percent), ITOCHU (3.9 percent), and Delta Hess (2.7 percent).