BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 14. The start-up of bp's Azeri-Central-East (ACE) platform in Azerbaijan will contribute to supporting oil supplies from Eurasia, says the International Energy Agency (IEA), Trend reports.
The agency has observed that Azerbaijan's total oil supply decreased to 670,000 barrels per day in 2022 and is expected to remain at that level throughout the forecast period.
Despite the declining output, bp is making progress towards delivering oil from the $6 billion Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) expansion project, with an additional 100,000 barrels per day anticipated from the Azeri-Central-East platform.
The report highlights that ACG, which reached an annual average peak of approximately 840,000 barrels per day in 2009, produced 390,000 barrels per day in 2022.
The ACE project is the next stage of development of the giant Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) field in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea. It is a $6 billion development project which includes a new offshore platform and facilities designed to process up to 100,000 barrels of oil per day. The project is expected to produce up to 300 million barrels over its lifetime.
By the end of the first quarter of 2023, the ACE project reached 86 percent progress milestone.
ACE platform jacket subsea structures and spools fabrication is currently 94 percent complete.
The ACE platform topsides unit and drilling facilities fabrication and commissioning activities continued at the fabrication yard in Bibi-Heybat. The construction and commissioning works are now in the final stages and expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2023.
Once fully completed and operationally tested, the topsides unit will be loaded out onto the transportation barge STB-1, transported to the ACG field and installed onto the jacket.
The subsea oil pipeline isolation tool was launched and the works to isolate the pipeline topsides were also completed in the first quarter. The diving support vessel completed the tie-in of the existing 30” spool, while the Citadel vessel commenced the isolation tool reversal activity.
Offshore construction works for the Central Azeri platform telecom modifications for ACE also commenced in the first quarter.
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