By Leman Mammadova

BP is planning to start deep gas production in the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) block located in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea.

Negotiations continue on deep gas production from the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) block, BP Azerbaijan Vice President Bakhtiyar Aslanbayli told Trend on January 28.

He said that deep gas at the ACG block of fields is planned to be produced for the first time this year, but the exact dates aren’t known yet.

BP Azerbaijan is the operator of ACG. The process of producing deep gas at the ACG block consists of two phases. The first phase will be implemented under the new agreement on ACG. It is divided into two stages. Four wells will be drilled in total. The drilling of four wells within the first phase is related to meeting domestic demand for gas in Azerbaijan in the coming years.

This year, the production at the ACG field is expected to reach the figure of 2018.

ACG is the largest oil and gas field in the Caspian Sea, covering more than 432 square kilometers. A contract for the development of ACG block of oil and gas fields was signed in 1994 for 30 years.

Proven oil reserves of ACG block of oil and gas fields are estimated at 1.2 billion tons, while gas reserves make 350 billion cubic meters.

On September 14, 2017, a modified and re-developed agreement was signed on joint development and shared distribution of production from the Azeri, Chirag fields and the deepwater part of the Gunashli field (ACG). The new agreement provides for the development of the field until 2050.

The ACG participating interests are as follows: BP - 30.37 percent; AzACG (SOCAR) - 25 percent; Chevron - 9.57 percent; INPEX - 9.31 percent; Statoil - 7.27 percent; ExxonMobil - 6.79 percent; TP - 5.73 percent; ITOCHU - 3.65 percent; ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) - 2.31 percent. The State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) received $ 138.2 billion as part of a project to develop the ACG block of oil and gas fields.

Azerbaijan has a large number of oil and gas fields and promising structures in the Caspian Sea.

The overwhelming part of oil produced in Azerbaijan falls on ACG block. Almost all oil from the block is exported by the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz