Offshore staff
BAKU, Azerbiajan — bp has started full-scale operations at the giant new Azeri Central East (ACE) platform in the Caspian Sea.
It is the seventh oil production platform installed on the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) Field, which has produced more than 4.3 Bbbl of oil since startup in 1997, and it provides the first new production since the West Chirag platform began operating in 2014.
The 48-slot ACE production, drilling and quarters platform and facilities can process up to 100,000 bbl/d and should produce up to 300 MMbbl. It is located between the Central Azeri and East Azeri platforms in a water depth of 137 m.
Processed oil is exported about 130 km to the Sangachal terminal onshore Azerbaijan via a new in-field pipeline linked to an existing 30-inch subsea export line.
Through the remainder of the year, output should rise steadily to 2024 as two further wells are drilled, completed and brought online.
The ACE platform is designed for automation of labor-intensive processes, and it has a fully automated drilling rig. The technologies and processes are also said to help reduce operational emissions.
Its 153-m tall jacket weighs 16,000 metric tons and houses three production risers: one for water injection, one for oil export and another for gas export. It was built at the Heydar Aliyev Baku Deepwater Jackets factory.
The 19,600-metric-ton topsides were built at the Bayil fabrication yard near Baku.
A water injection pipeline between the East Azeri and ACE platforms supplies injection water from the Central Azeri compression and water injection platform. In addition, ACE can inject gas and water into the reservoir to support other platforms.
04.18.2024
