Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 19 / Trend E. Ismayilov /
The alliance of Amec-Tekfen-Azfen (ATA) companies began assembling the elements of the topsides and drilling facilities for the platform within the Chirag oil project (the increase in oil production on the block Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG)), a source on the oil and gas market said.
"The work has already begun to install the units. In particular, the work is underway to install drilling facilities," a source said.
He said that the work on preparation of the other elements necessary for construction within the project is underway.
A source said that the process of constructing the topsides of the platform and drilling facilities will take 2,5 years. The construction process consists of two stages. The first stage is to produce the necessary elements, and the second - to install them. The necessary items will be made stage-by-stage. Afterwards, they will be gradually installed.
According to the contract with the Azerbaijan International Operating Company (AIOC), the consortium AMEK / Tekfen / Azfen (ATA) will construct the upper modules, drilling sites, as well as assembly, commissioning and exploitation tests. The cost of this contract is about $340 million.
ATA has already engaged in construction of the topsides of one of the technological platforms within development of Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli.
Chirag oil project involves the construction of the new platform "West Chirag", to be installed at a depth of 170 meters between the already-operating production platform "Chirag" and "Guneshli".
The most construction operations within the Chirag oil project will be implemented in Azerbaijan, including the construction of a drilling module of the platform, which was built abroad for the previous projects.
Chirag oil project involves the investment worth $6 billion.
The estimated daily volume of Azeri Light crude oil from the new platform, to be built within the increase of oil production at ACG will hit 183,000 barrels. The expected daily volume of associated gas from the new platform will exceed 6.5 million cubic meters. The estimated daily volume of gas pumped at the platform will hit about 2.3 million cubic meters.
The advance drilling within the project will cover the second half of 2010 - the first half of 2012. The advance drilling will be implemented by using "Dede Gorgud" installation during this period. The first production from the platform is scheduled for late 2013.
In total, it is planned to produce 300 million barrels of oil within the project (till the end of a term of the ACG contract in 2024).
Participants of the project to develop Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli are: BP (operator - 37.43 percent), Chevron (11.27 percent), SOCAR (10 percent), INPEX (10.96 percent), Statoil (8.56 percent), Exxon (8 percent), TPAO (6.75 percent), Itochu (4.3 percent), Hess (2.72 percent).