Azerbaijan, Baku, September 16 /Trend, a.Akhundov/
Within the construction of the new platform of Chirag oil project (increase of oil production in block of Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli fields) topsides were installed onto its jacket.
The construction work was performed with commitment to safety standards," a message from the project's operator, BP published on Monday said.
According to the message, it is expected that offshore hook-up and commissioning of the unit will be complete by the end of the year.
The sail away of the topsides took place on 12 September. The construction of topsides and production of drilling equipment for the platform is carried out by AMEC-TEKFEN-AZFEN (ATA) which has already implemented similar work in one of the technological platforms within Azer-Chirag-Guneshli project. On April 20, 2013, the platform's jacket was sailed away.
With its completed weight of 19,500 tonnes the West Chirag topsides is the heaviest structure ever installed in the Caspian Sea. The construction of the topsides started in July 2010 and was completed in July 2013 followed by about 2 months of the remaining onshore commissioning activities. The entire construction work was performed with full commitment to the highest safety standards without a single day off from work case throughout around 20 million man-hours achieved," the message said.
The Chirag oil project envisages the construction of the new platform West Chirag, the construction of pipelines and work on the deepwater platform Guneshli. The platform will be installed at a depth of 170 meters between the already-running production platforms Chirag and Guneshli.
The Chirag Oil Project (COP) is a $6 billion further development plan for ACG. It is planned to start production in the platform in late 2013.
In total it is planned to produce over 300 million barrels of oil within the implementation of the project (by the end of the contract on Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli in 2024).
The contract to develop "Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli" large offshore field was signed in 1994. Shares in the contract for development of Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli block of fields is distributed as follows: BP (operator in Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli) - 35.78 per cent, Chevron - 11.27 per cent, Inpex - 10.96 per cent, AzACG - 11.65 per cent, Statoil - 8.56 per cent, Exxon - 8 per cent, TPAO - 6.75 per cent, Itochu - 4.3 per cent and ONGC - 2.72 per cent.