Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 11
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
BP as the operator of the Azeri-Chirag-Deepwater Gunashli (ACG) field advises that as part of its ACG annual work program it will implement planned maintenance (turnaround) on the West Chirag platform in the Caspian Sea in October, Trend reports citing BP.
In accordance with the plan, production from the West Chirag platform will be suspended on 15 October for about 15 days to enable efficient maintenance, inspection and project work to be undertaken. During the turnaround, various flare and control systems upgrade projects will be implemented on the platform.
This is a routine, planned program and is part of normal operations. The planning for the programme started in 2018 and these activities are included in the 2019 Annual Work Programme and Budget. The shut-down is also included in the annual production forecast.
Production from the other platforms of the ACG field (Central Azeri, East Azeri, West Azeri, Chirag and Deepwater Gunashli), Shah Deniz Alpha and Shah Deniz Bravo platforms of the Shah Deniz field, Sangachal Terminal operations, as well as export operations via BTC and SCP pipelines will continue as normal.
These planned events deliver routine inspection, maintenance and project delivery activities. They are a necessary part of the long-term reliability, integrity and production performance, driven by repair and facility modification work that can only be performed during a plant outage.
West Chirag platform is part of the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) complex which consists of six production platforms: Chirag 1, Central Azeri, West Azeri, East Azeri, Deepwater Gunashli, and West Chirag.
The West Chirag platform has been installed between the existing Chirag and Deepwater Gunashli platforms. First oil from the platform was extracted on 28 January 2014.
On September 20, 1994, the Government of Azerbaijan and a group of international oil companies representing eight countries signed the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli Production Sharing Agreement, which later became known as the “Contract of the Century”. The Contract was extended in September 2017 until mid-century.
From the start of production in November 1997 till the end of 2Q 2019, ACG produced about 488 million tonnes (more than 3.6 billion barrels) of oil.
ACG participating interests are: BP (30.37 percent), SOCAR (25 percent), Chevron (9.57 percent), INPEX (9.31 percent), Equinor (7.27 percent), ExxonMobil (6.79 percent), TPAO (5.73 percent), ITOCHU (3.65 percent), ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) (2.31 percent).
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