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BP aiming to steady oil production in Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli

25 July 2023 14:33 (UTC +04:00)

BP expects to steady the production of crude oil from Azerbaijan's flagship Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) complex over the next few years thanks to a long-awaited new platform (Azeri Central East (ACE)), said upstream chief Gordon Birrell, APA-Economics reports citing S&P Global Commodity Insights.

"You should assume I think for the next few years the black oil from ACG pretty constant, maybe slight decline," Birrell said, referring to ACG crude.

Output from ACG is due a boost in early 2024 with the startup of the Azeri Central East platform targeting a "new" formation, while the operator steps up injection of oil and gas to boost pressure levels.

Note that a natural decrease in oil production in the ACG has been observed in recent years. The construction of the new platform also aims to stabilize production in the block.

The decision to go ahead with the $6 billion ACE project was the first major investment decision after BP, state-owned Socar and the other ACG partners agreed in 2017 to extend the production sharing agreement to 2049.

The project includes a new offshore platform and other facilities with a production capacity of up to 100,000 barrels per day. It is expected that up to 300 million barrels of oil will be produced during the operation period of the project.

Notably, the share distribution in ACG is as follows: BP – 30.37% (operator), AzACG (SOCAR) – 25.00%, MOL – 9.57%, "Inpex" – 9.31%, "Equinor" (formerly Statoil) – 7.27%, ExxonMobil – 6.79%, TPAO – 5.73%, Itochu – 3.65% and ONGC Videsh Ltd. (OVL) – 2.31%.