bp PLC spudded the first production well from the new Azeri Central East (ACE) platform for the Azeri-Chirag-Deepwater Gunashli (ACG) field development project in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea.
Well spud follows safe completion of all offshore hook up, installation, and commissioning of the ACE topsides unit, which sailed away from the Bayil fabrication yard in August 2023. The well is planned to reach a total depth of as much as 3,188 m in about 3 months.
ACE is a 48-slot production, drilling, and quarters platform mid-way between the existing Central Azeri and East Azeri platforms in 137 m of water. The project also includes new infield pipelines to transfer 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.
In addition, there is 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 ACE.
The ACE platform and infrastructure are designed to process up to 100,000 bo/d. The project is expected to produce as much as 300 million bbl over its lifetime.
bp is operator of ACG field.