By OGJ editors
HUOSTON, Nov. 7 -- BP Exploration (Caspian Sea) Ltd. has let a contract to PSL Energy Services (Baku) Ltd., Aberdeen, for pigging services to pipelines connecting with the Sangachal oil terminal in Baku, Azerbaijan.
The 3-year contract, with 2 options for 1-year each, is valued at $2-3 million and comprises the logistical management of 150 pigs, coordinated between the terminal, five offshore platforms, the Baku-Tiblisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline and the Western Route pipeline.
Robert Schroeter, BP operations support engineer, said a 30-in. subsea oil pipeline and 28-in. subsea gas pipeline from the Central Azeri platform both started during the first quarter. Since that time, the level of pigging activity at Sangachal has more than doubled.
The BTC oil pipeline could begin operating by early 2006, BP executives have said, adding that the line is expected to start up between yearend and the third week of January 2006.
The BTC pipeline is being developed by an international consortium of 11 partners, led by BP and the State Oil Co. of Azerbaijan. Azeri oil will be exported form the pipeline's export terminal at the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan.
On Oct. 12, the Georgian section of the BTC oil pipeline was inaugurated in the Gardabani District of southern Georgia in a ceremony attended by presidents of Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey (OGJ Online, Oct. 18, 2005).
Linefill of the BTC pipeline began at Saganchal oil terminal on May 10.
