| Chirag oil field | |
| Country: | Azerbaijan |
| Region: | Caspian Sea |
| Location: | 120km (80miles) east of Baku |
| Offonshore: | offshore |
| Operator: | BP |
| Partners: | Azerbaijan International Operating Company |
| Recover Oil Bbl: | 360 |
Chirag (Azerbaijani: Çıraq) is an offshore oil field in the Caspian Sea, located 120km (80miles) east of Baku, Azerbaijan, and is a part of the larger Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) project. The production, drilling and quarters (PDQ) platform Chirag 1 (EOP) has been in operation since 1997. Chirag 1 has been producing the Early Oil from the ACG field. West Chirag is planned as an extension of ACG project.
The Early Oil Project (EOP) has averaged between 100000and of oil since the start of production. It was recognized as the first large-scale oil project in the Caspian Sea region. The project involved investment of $200 million from big financial institutions such as World Bank's IFC and the EBRD[1] and included development of part of the Chirag oil field, namely refurbishment of an existing Chirag 1 platform, construction of new subsea pipelines, drilling of development and water injection wells; construction of Sangachal Terminal; construction of oil export terminal in Supsa, Georgia and completion of export pipelines and facilities in Azerbaijan and Georgia [2]
The subsidiary of Amoco – Amoco Caspian Sea Petroleum Ltd was the operator for EOP. The partnership also included companies from United States, Russia, Turkey, United Kingdom, Norway, Japan and Azerbaijan.
| Company | Share | |
|---|---|---|
| Amoco Caspian Sea Petroleum | 17% | |
| Exxon Azerbaijan Ltd | 8% | |
| Lukoil Overseas BVI Ltd | 10% | |
| Turkiye Petrollero A.O. (TPAO) | 6.8% | |
| Unocal Khazar Ltd | 10% | |
| BP Exploration (Caspian Sea) Limited | 17% | |
| Den Norske Statsoljeskap a.s. | 8.6% | |
| State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic | 10% | |
| Itochu Corporation | 3.9% | |
| Pennzoil Caspian Corporation | 4.8% | |
| Ramco | 2.1% | |
| Delta | 1.7% |
Chirag 1 facilities include:
In March 2009, KBR was awarded a contract by BP on behalf of Azerbaijan International Operating Company to provide front-end engineering and design (FEED) and procurement services for the Chirag drilling platform. This is considered to be an expansion of ACG field development and is also known as Chirag Oil Project.[6] [7] In September 2010, construction of steel jacket for West Chirag platform will be started. Construction will be conducted by Baku Deepwater Jacket Factory named after Heydar Aliyev. Project management plans West Chirag production to start in the second quarter of 2014. According to preliminary forecasts, the platform will produce and 209 million cm3/day[8] and a total of of oil at an investment cost of $6 billion.[9] Gas produced from Chirag is planned to be exported to Europe in 2016.[10]