Azernews.Az

Upper modules at the West Chirag field are being completed to be sent to the offshore field next month, BP`s Regional President for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey (AGT) Gordon Birrell has said at the 20th Caspian International Oil & Gas Exhibition in Baku.

Birrell noted that "we expect the West Chirag platform to enter the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli block of oil fields and oil extraction to begin by the end of 2013".

"The West Chirag platform is the heaviest block launched in the Caspian Sea. It weighs nearly 18,200 tons," he added.

Construction on the West Chirag platform started in July 2011 with the jacket completed in October 2012. The platform is expected to be commissioned in 2013.

The giant ACG block of fields has been producing since 1997. The production started from the Chirag part of the field and continues successfully. This was followed by the Azeri Project: Central Azeri production started in February 2005, West Azeri began producing in December 2005, and East Azeri came on stream in October 2006. The Deepwater Gunashli section launched production in April 2008.

Equity participation in the ACG contract is as follows: BP (operator) has 35.78 percent, Chevron holds 11.27 percent, Inpex with 10.96 percent, AzACG with 11.65 percent, Statoil with 8.56 percent, Exxon with 8 percent, TPAO with 6.75 percent, Itochu with 4.3 percent; Hess has sold its 2.72 percent share to India's ONGC.