Azerbaijan International Operating Co. (AIOC) has started oil production from the West Chirag platform in the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) complex of fields offshore Azerbaijan in the Caspian Sea.

Flow began from a predrilled well, J05, at a rate not reported by BP PLC, the AIOC operator.

The platform, installed in 17 m of water between the Chirag and Deepwater Gunashli platforms, has design capacity to handle 183,000 b/d of oil. Gas export capacity is 285 MMscfd.

Oil is processed on the platform and flows through a new infield pipeline linked to an existing 30-in. subsea pipeline for transport to the Sangachal Terminal.