Production has started at the West Chirag platform in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea, according to the Azerbaijan International Operating Company (AIOC), operated by BP.
West Chirag (pictured) is part of the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) field development andcompletes the Chirag Oil Project, sanctioned in 2010.
West Chirag production began from one of the pre-drilled wells, J05, yesterday (28 January). The oil will first pass through the newly-installed processing facilities on the platform, before being exported to the Sangachal Terminal via a new in-field pipeline linked to an existing 30in. subsea export pipeline.
Production will increase through 2014, as the other pre-drilled wells are brought on line.
The West Chirag platform was installed in 170m water depth, between the existing Chirag and Deepwater Gunashli platforms. The designed oil capacity is 183,000 bbl/day. The gas export capacity is 285Mscf/d.
CG participating interests are: BP (operator – 35.8%), SOCAR (11.6%), Chevron (11.3%), INPEX (11%), Statoil (8.6%), ExxonMobil (8%), TPAO (6.8%), ITOCHU (4.3%), ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) (2.7%).
Gordon Birrell, BP’s Regional President for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, said: “The start-up of COP marks a major milestone in the development of the super-giant ACG field. West Chirag is the eighth world-class offshore platform that we have built and operated in a safe and efficient manner in the Caspian.
"To date the ACG field has produced over 2.3B bbl and with future continual major investments in new technologies and facilities, like the one we have today started up, it will continue to produce as a world-class reservoir for many decades.
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