| Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli | |
|---|---|
| Country | Azerbaijan |
| Region | Caspian Sea |
| Offshore/onshore | Offshore |
| Operator(s) | AIOC |
| Partners | BP, Chevron, SOCAR, INPEX, Statoil, ExxonMobil, TPAO, Devon Energy, Itochu, Amerada Hess |
| Field history | |
| Discovery | 1985 |
| Start of production | 1997 |
| Peak year | 2012 |
| Production | |
| Current production of oil | 1,000,000 barrels per day (~5.0×107 t/a) |
| Year of current production of oil | 2009 |
| Current production of gas (million cubic meters per day) | 10 |
| Estimated oil in place | 5,000 million barrels (~6.8×108 t) |
Azeri–Chirag–Guneshli (ACG) (Azerbaijani: Azəri-Çıraq-Günəşli) is a large complex of oil fields in the Caspian Sea, about 120 kilometres (75 mi) off the coast of Azerbaijan. An overall estimated area of the field is 432.4 square kilometres (167.0 sq mi).[1] It is operated by a BP-led consortium. The ACG fields have estimated recoverable reserves of about 5 to 6 billion barrels (790×106 to 950×106 m3) of petroleum. As of the end of 2005, the production rate from eight pre-drilled wells at the platform was approximately 240,000 barrels per day (38,000 m3/d). Total production was expected to reach more than 800,000 barrels per day (130,000 m3/d) in 2007, and around 1 million barrels per day (160×103 m3/d) by 2009.[2]
BP reports that crude oil from ACG is exported through the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline to the Mediterranean Sea and the Baku-Supsa Pipeline to Supsa in Georgia, as well as through the Baku-Novorossiysk Pipeline to Novorossiysk in Russia. It is also believed that there are large untapped gas reserves under ACG oilfields which can be used for the planned Nabucco pipeline.[3] Media reports indicate that according to American Consulting Association IHS CERA (Cambridge Energy Research Associates), the Azeri–Chirag–Guneshli field is the third largest field out of 20 listed. Total investment is estimated at $20 billion.[4] As of 2008 reports, oil coming from ACG field accounts to nearly 80% of Azerbaijan's total oil output[5] and is expected to bring Azerbaijan potential $80 billion in profits[6]
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Shareholders of the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli offshore field include BP with 34.1367% of stakes, ChevronTexaco - 10.2814%, SOCAR - 10%, INPEX - 10%, Statoil - 8.5633%, ExxonMobil - 8.006%, TPAO - 6.75%, Devon Energy - 5.6262%, Itochu - 3.9205% and Amerada Hess - 2.7213%. Russia's Lukoil oil company pulled out of the project in 2003 selling all of its interest to INPEX. The deal was sealed for $1.354 billion.[7] The production sharing agreement was signed by the parties on 20 September 1994 for development of the field for 30 years.[2][8][9] The day of the signing of PSA agreement is celebrated as The Day of Oilworkers in Azerbaijan.[1] BP with major stake in the ownership is leading the AIOC consortium.[10] In April, 2009, BP reported a total of 1 billion barrels (160,000,000 m3) of Azeri Light oil was produced from Azeri–Chirag–Guneshli field.[9] On 23 November 2009, Devon Energy announced it would sell its share in ACG and other international projects and would mainly focus on its domestic operations.[11]
The development of the Azeri–Chirag–Guneshli field was split into three main stages which were to be completed by 2008:
| Operation[12] | Month and Year |
|---|---|
| Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) contract signed | September 1994 |
| Chirag development drilling | August 1997 |
| Chirag First Oil | November 1997 |
| Supsa pipeline operational | February 1999 |
| Water injection project | 1999 |
| Chirag drilling technology upgraded | 2000 |
| ACG Phase 1 Full Field Development | August 2001 |
| Azeri subsea drilling template | June 2002 |
| ACG Phase 2 Full Field Development | Sept 2002 |
| Chirag and Sangachal Terminal upgrade | March 2003 |
| Chirag - 200 million barrels (32,000,000 m3) | May 2003 |
| West Azeri template installed | May 2003 |
| Central Azeri Living Quarters arrive in Baku | July 2003 |
| Central Azeri drilling modules arrive in Baku | Sept 2003 |
| Central Azeri jacket completed | March 2004 |
| East Azeri Pre-Drilling Program begins | June 2004 |
| Central Azeri Gas pipeline installed and platform launched | July 2004 |
| Chirag - 250 million barrels (40,000,000 m3) | August 2004 |
| West Azeri Platform drilling modules arrive in Baku | August 2004 |
| Central Azeri Production, Drilling and Quarters Platform installed | October 2004 |
| Central Azeri Production starts | February 2005 |
| Azeri oil export starts | March 2005 |
| West Azeri production, drilling and quarters platform launched | May 2005 |
| Central Azeri casing-head gas delivered | May 2005 |
| Chirag - 300 million barrels (48,000,000 m3) | June 2005 |
| East Azeri drilling modules and quarters platform arrive in Baku | June 2005 |
| Central Azeri C&WP platform topsides launched | July 2005 |
| West Azeri topsides installed | Sept 2005 |
| Deepwater Gunashli Pre-Drilling Program starts | December 2005 |
| West Azeri production starts | January 2006 |
| East Azeri platform launched | March 2006 |
| C&WP injects first gas | May 2006 |
| Deep-water Gunashli drilling modules and quarters in Baku | June 2006 |
| East Azeri topsides installed | July 2006 |
| East Azeri production began | October 2006 |
With 3 stages completed and 7 operational platforms functional, total production from Azeri-Chirag Guneshli is more than 1 million barrels (160,000 m3) a day.[8] During the first three quarters of 2009, over 224 million barrels (35.6×106 m3) of oil were produced from the Chirag, Central Azeri, West Azeri, East Azeri and Deep Water Gunashli platforms. As per BP's report, Chirag had 19 wells in operation (13 of which are oil producers and 6 - water injectors) with an overall production of 105,300 bbl/d (16,740 m3/d). Central Azeri (CA) had 18 wells (13 of which are oil producers and 5 - gas injectors) with production of 185,800 bbl/d (29,540 m3/d). West Azeri (WA) had 18 wells in operation (14 of which are oil producers and 4 - water injectors with production of 275,200 barrels per day (43,750 m3/d). East Azeri (EA) had 13 wells in operation (9 of which are oil producers and 4 - water injectors) with an overall production 139,400 barrels per day (22,160 m3/d) for the first three quarters of 2009. Deep Water Gunashli (DWG) had 17 wells (9 oil producers and 8 water injectors) in operation with production of 116,400 barrels per day (18,510 m3/d) of oil.[13]
Azerbaijan also gets approximately 10-11 million cubic meters of casing head gas per day extracted from ACG block. The gas is supplied by BP free of charge. Azerbaijan received over 1 billion cubic meters of gas from these fields in the 1st quarter of 2009. Current recovery comes to nearly 27 million cubic meters of casing head gas a day. A portion of gas is routed to national gas transportation system of Azerbaijan. Some is used as source of fuel at the platforms.
Casing head gas from platforms in central, western and eastern parts of Azeri field is supplied to Sangachal terminal via 28 inch subsea gas pipeline to distributive system of Azerigaz CJSC to use on the local market. A portion of casing head gas extracted at Chirag platform is directed to SOCAR's compressor station (the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan) to Oil Rocks field via 16 inch subsea gas pipeline. The rest of the gas from Azeri–Chirag–Guneshli platforms are pumped through intra field subsea gas pipeline to a platform for repeated pumping in a layer to support layer pressure.[14] As of September 2009, 164.2 million tonnes of oil and 37 billion cubic meters of associated gas have been produced and 80.3 million cubic meters of water and 13 billion cubic meters of gas have been injected into layers since the beginning of production in ACG fields in 1997.[15]
The oil from the ACG field was pumped to Sangachal terminal south of Baku and from there routed to foreign markets by Baku-Supsa pipeline, Baku–Novorossiysk pipeline and Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline.[8] An interactive map shows all current export routes.
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