bp as operator of the Azeri-Chirag-Deepwater Gunashli (ACG) field development project, commenced a new 4-dimensional (4D) high-definition ocean bottom node seismic programme on the ACG field on 20 January. This is the largest-ever seismic acquisition commitment made by bp globally by all its aspects – area size, cost and programme duration.
The programme, which will focus on ACG’s Balakhany and Fasila reservoirs, will cover 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).
Planning for this extended programme started early last year. The plan is to conduct five monitors over five years, utilising ocean bottom nodes, one dual source vessel - the Murovdag, and one node vessel – the Guba.
Roshni Moosai, bp’s vice president subsurface, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Türkiye region, said:
“ACG is the biggest oilfield operated by bp, and as such it is tremendously important to us as well as to Azerbaijan and our partners. By committing to this wide-scale seismic acquisition we aim to obtain comprehensive understanding of the reservoir’s architecture and fluid contact movements. We hope the most up-to-date 4D technology to be used for this programme will allow us to acquire further in-depth data about the reservoir helping us identify ways to minimize future well surprises and maximize the field recovery in the next decades.”
The programme will be implemented by the Caspian Geo LLC.
Notes to editors
- The ACG Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) was initially signed in September 1994. In September 2017, the PSA was amended and restated to be effective until the end of 2049. The new contract aimed to maximize the economic benefits of ACG for Azerbaijan and shareholders over the next 31 years.
- ACG is a super-giant field and to date more than 4.3 billion barrels (581 million tonnes) of oil have been produced from the field. The oil is exported to world markets, primarily via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and Western Route Export pipelines.
- Till the end of the third quarter of 2023, total investments of more than $43 billion have been made into the development of the ACG field.
- ACG currently has nine offshore platforms – seven production platforms and two process, gas compression, water injection and utilities platforms. The platforms export oil and gas to the Sangachal terminal, one of the world’s largest oil and gas terminals, onshore near Baku.
- In the first three quarters of 2023, total production from ACG averaged 368,000 barrels per day.
- The ACG field has been developed in several phases:
- Chirag has been producing since 1997 as part of the Early Oil Project (EOP);
- Azeri Project Phase 1 - Central Azeri began production in early 2005;
- Phase 2 included West Azeri, which started production in January 2006, and East Azeri started production in October 2006;
- Phase 3 - Deepwater Gunashli started up in April 2008;
- the Chirag Oil Project – West Chirag, which has been producing since January 2014, and
- the latest step of development of ACG – the Azeri Central East (ACE) project, which is planned to start up in early 2024.