ACG gives Chirag go

11.03.2010

Partners in the BP-led Azeri, Chirag and Gunashli (ACG) fields off Azerbaijan have approved final investment in the $6 billion Chirag oil project, the next phase in the development of the venture in the Caspian Sea off Azerbaijan, Japan’s Inpex said.

Inpex said in a statement today that the new Chirag facility would tap a further 360 million barrels of oil between the existing Gunashli and Chirag-1 platforms. First oil from the new segment is expected in 2013.

The ACG project is operated by UK supermajor BP with a 34.1% stake on behalf of Chevron, Inpex and Azeri state oil company Socar with 10% each, Statoil with 8.6%, ExxonMobil with 8%, Turkey’s TPAO with 6.8%, US independent Devon Energy with 5.6%, Japan’s Itochu with 3.9% and US player Hess with 2.7%.

First oil from the great ACG project was achieved in 1997. Total development of the field under existing plans is expected to take 30 years, Inpex said.

The deposits are the main source of oil for the BP-operated Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline which flows 850,000 barrels per day from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean.

Source : Upstreamonline