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SOCAR: ACG development partners will stabilise oil production

Oil&Gas Materials 24 October 2012 14:13 (UTC +04:00)
Partners of the development of the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) block of fields in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea are developing a programme on extraction in 2013, 2014 and 2014-2024 the head of SOCAR (State Oil Company of Azerbaijan) Rovnag Abdullayev told journalists.
SOCAR: ACG development partners will stabilise oil production

Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 24 / Trend corr. E.Ismayilov /

Partners of the development of the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) block of fields in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea are developing a programme on extraction in 2013, 2014 and 2014-2024 the head of SOCAR (State Oil Company of Azerbaijan) Rovnag Abdullayev told journalists.

According to him, stabilisation of oil production in the field at 33 million tons is projected in 2013. Production will be increased to 35 million tons in 2014. Between 2014 to 2024, the production volume will be stabilised at 33 million tons (700,000 barrels a day).

Abdullayev said work is currently being carried out on preparation of the long term programme of production in ACG, according to which between 2014 - 2020 oil production is projected at 33 to 34 million tons per year.

"According to our experts, these are very good results," Abdullayev.noted.

Referring to a possible change of project operator, he stated that the contract signed 18 years ago created great opportunities for its participants and during this period no changes or additions were made to the contract. SOCAR has the right to take any action and use their facilities, but this is no time for that, Abdullayev added.

According to the head of SOCAR, reasons for the decline in production in ACG are technical.

Following the problems of BP in the Gulf of Mexico and gas leak detection in Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli, in 2008, the field operator (BP) chose 'to give up the risks rather than to manage them'. In other words, this was not a mistake.

"These problems are technical," Abdullayev noted.

Earlier addressing a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers to discuss the results of the country's socio-economic development in nine months of 2012, and outline further priorities, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said that serious mistakes of the international consortium (Azerbaijan International Operating Company), operator of which the lead company is BP, led to a sharp decline in oil production on the Azeri and Chirag fields.

The contract on the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli field development was signed in 1994.

Participants of the project to develop Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli are: BP (operator - 35.83 per cent), Chevron (11.27 per cent), Inpex (10.96 per cent), AzACG (11.6 per cent), Statoil (8.56 per cent), Exxon (8 per cent), TPAO (6.75 per cent), Itocu (4.3 per cent) and Hess (2.72 per cent). Hess has sold its share to Indian ONGC and the transaction will be completed in the first quarter of 2013.

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