Azeri-Chirag-Deepwater Gunashli

Azeri-Chirag-Deepwater Gunashli (ACG) field located about 100km east of Baku is the largest oilfield in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian basin

ACG 30th anniversary in facts

The contract of the century – a national strategy for success

Azeri Central East (ACE) project next stage of ACG development

BP Exploration (Caspian Sea) Limited is the operator on behalf of the Contractor Parties to the ACG Production Sharing Agreement.

In the first three quarters of 2024, bp and its co-venturers spent about $402 million in operating expenditure and about $968 million in capital expenditure on ACG activities.

In 2024, a new 4-dimensional (4D) high-definition ocean bottom node seismic programme was commenced on ACG. The programme, which focuses on the Balakhany and Fasila reservoirs, covers an area of 740 square kilometres under source and 507 square kilometres under receivers, with a total cost of around $370 million and a duration of five years (2024-2028). This is the largest-ever seismic acquisition commitment made by bp globally by all its aspects – area size, cost and programme duration. The seismic acquisition scope planned for this year has already been completed safely and ahead of schedule; seismic processing of the acquired data is currently ongoing.

Production

During the third quarter of 2024, ACG continued to safely and reliably deliver stable production. Total ACG production for the first three quarters of 2024 was on average about 339,000 barrels per day.

At the end of the third quarter, 147 oil wells were producing, while 47 were used for water and eight for gas injection.

Associated gas

During the three quarters, ACG delivered an average of around 6.5 million cubic metres per day of ACG associated gas to the state of Azerbaijan (1.8 billion cubic metres in total), primarily at the Sangachal terminal but also to SOCAR’s Oil Rocks facility. The remainder of the associated gas produced was re-injected for reservoir pressure maintenance.

ACG is celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2024.

ACG platforms

Chirag

Chirag is an offshore production, drilling and quarters (PDQ) platform located 120km east of Baku in the Caspian Sea, at a water depth of 120 metres . The platform has been in operation since 1997 producing the so-called Early Oil from the ACG field.

Chirag facilities include:

24-slot PDQ platform with water injection equipment
24-inch oil pipeline to the receiving terminal at Sangachal
48km long 16-inch gas pipeline to the Oil Rocks
18-inch gas pipeline to Central Azeri

The Chirag platform has both producing and water injection wells to handle water injection to increase oil recovery.

Total Chirag production for first three quarters od 2024 was on average about 23,000 barrels per day.

West Chirag

On 9 March 2010, the Steering Committee for the development of the Azeri, Chirag and deepwater portion of the Gunashli (ACG) fields sanctioned investment in the new Chirag Oil Project (COP). The $6 billion development plan was the next major step in the ongoing development of the ACG field in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea. The project was planned to increase oil production and recovery from the ACG field through a new offshore facility – West Chirag platform, which was designed to fill a critical gap in the field infrastructure between the existing Deepwater Gunashli (DWG) and Chirag platforms.

West Chirag(WC) is an offshore production, drilling and quarters (PDQ) platform located at a water depth of about 170 metres between the existing Chirag and Deepwater Gunashli platforms.

West Chirag facilities include:

48 slot PDQ
14-inch gas pipeline
30-inch oil pipeline

On 28 January 2014 WC production began from one of the pre-drilled wells - J05. The oil first passed through the newly installed processing facilities on the platform and then was exported to the Sangachal Terminal via a new in-field pipeline linked to an existing 30” subsea export pipeline. Production increased as the other pre-drilled wells were brought on line.

Total WC production for the first three quarters od 2024 was on average about 29,100 barrels per day.

East Azeri

East Azeri (EA) is an offshore production, drilling and quarters (PDQ) platform located 100km off Baku coast in the Caspian Sea, at 152 metres of water depth. The platform has been been in operation since 2006 producing oil from the eastern part of the ACG field.

East Azeri facilities include:

48-slot PDQ platform.
22-inch gas pipeline from EA directed to Central Azeri platform.
30-inch oil pipeline tied in Phase 2 (from Central Azeri to Sangachal terminal).

Total EA production for first three quarters od 2024 was on average about 51,000 barrels per day.

Azeri Central East (ACE)

Azeri Central East (ACE) is an offshore production, drilling and quarters (PDQ) platform located midway between the existing Central Azeri and East Azeri platforms in a water depth of 137 metres. The platform has been in operation since April 2024.

Azeri Central East facilities include:

48-slot PDQ platform
new infield oil and gas transfer pipelines

Total ACE production for first three quarters od 2024 was on average about 6,500 barrels per day.

Central Azeri

Central Azeri (CA) is an offshore production, drilling and quarters (PDQ) platform located 100km east of Baku in the Caspian Sea at a water depth of 128 metres. The platform has been in operation since February 2005 producing oil from the central portion of the ACG field.

In addition to the PDQ, a compression and water injection platform (C&WP) is installed in Central Azeri and bridge-linked to the PDQ to create a major offshore complex encompassing accommodation, drilling, production, processing, compression and re-injection facilities. C&WP provides water and gas injection services to the Central, West and East Azeri platforms, manage associated gas export and provide electrical power using 10 Rolls Royce turbines.

Central Azeri facilities include:

48-slot PDQ platform
C&WP platform
30-inch oil pipeline from CA to the Sangachal terminal
28-inch gas pipeline from CA to the Sangachal terminal
expansion of the existing onshore terminal at Sangachal

Total CA production for first three quarters od 2024 was on average about 96,500 barrels per day.

West Azeri

West Azeri (WA) is an offshore production, drilling and quarters (PDQ) platform located 100km off Baku in the Caspian Sea at a water depth of 120 meters . The platform has been in operation since December 2005 producing oil from the western portion of the ACG field.

West Azeri facilities include:

48-slot production, drilling and quarters (PDQ) platform
30-inch oil pipeline from WA to the Sangachal terminal

WA oil production began from the first of the three pre-drilled
production wells on 20 December 2005. On 4 January 2006 WA oil reached the Sangachal terminal.

Total WA production for first three quarters od 2024 was on average about 75,500 barrels per day.

Deewater Gunashli

Deepwater Gunashli (DWG) complex is the third phase of development of the ACG field in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea. it is located on the east side of the Gunashli field at 175 metres of water depth. The platform has been in operation since April 2008 producing oil from the ACG field.

The complex comprises of two bridge-linked platforms:

48-slot drilling, utilities, and quarters (DUQ) platform
process, gas compression, water injection and utilities (PCWU) platform

Production export off the complex is via two 30 inch oil pipeline tie-ins and a single 28 inch gas pipeline tie-in into pre-installed pipeline junctions located on the Azeri field subsea export pipelines to the onshore Sangachal Terminal . In addition, uniquely for the ACG project, three subsea water injection wells have been installed in the DWG development. Production from DWG is boosted by remarkable Caspian first – subsea water injection intended to ramp-up oil production by injecting seawater into DWG reservoir to increase its pressure

DWG DUQ facilities include: