British oil and gas company BP, as operator of the Azeri-Chirag-Deepwater Gunashli (ACG) field, has spudded the first production well from the new Azeri Central East (ACE) platform.
ACG is the largest oilfield development project in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian basin, located about 62 miles (100km) east of Baku, Azerbaijan.
BP said that the spudding follows the safe completion of all offshore hook-up, installation, and commissioning of the ACE topsides unit in August 2023.
The first production well at the ACG field is planned to be drilled to a total depth of up to 3,188m, which is expected to require around three months.
BP Azerbaijan, Georgia and Türkiye regional president Gary Jones said: “We are excited to commence drilling the first platform production well on ACE. This allows us to meet our first oil production target for ACE and deliver it in early 2024.
“A great deal of preparation has been made to assure a safe and robust drilling programme using our experience, as well as our innovative approach, automated processes, and advanced technology.
“We look forward to delivering this first ACE production well safely, efficiently and on schedule.”
The ACE project is a next-stage development of the ACG field, offshore Azerbaijan, with an estimated investment of $6bn.
Located between the existing Central Azeri and East Azeri platforms in a water depth of 137m, the ACE platform comprises 48 slots for production, drilling and quarters.
It includes new infield pipelines to feed oil and gas from the ACE platform to the existing ACG Phase 2 oil and gas export pipelines for transportation to the onshore Sangachal terminal.
The project also includes a water injection pipeline between the East Azeri and ACE platforms to supply injection water from the Central Azeri compression and water injection platform to the ACE facilities.
The ACE platform and facilities can process up to 100,000 barrels of oil per day, and the project is anticipated to produce up to 300 million barrels over its lifetime.
