The Azerbaijan International Operating Company (AIOC) is pleased to announce that the jacket for the East Azeri (EA) production, drilling and quarters (PDQ) platform sailed away on March 11, from the Heydar Aliyev Baku Deepwater Jackets Factory (BDJF) and was launched offshore onto the template at its permanent location in the Azeri field on Sunday, March 12.
The parties to the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) Production Sharing Agreement are: BP (operator - 34.1%), Unocal (10.3%), SOCAR (10%), INPEX (10.,0%), Statoil (8,6%), ExxonMobil (8%), TPAO (6.8%), Devon (5.6%), Itochu (3.9%), Amerada Hess (2.7%).
The EA PDQ jacket has been fully assembled in the country using local construction infrastructure including BDJF facilities. The total weight of the jacket is 15,000 tonnes. The height of the jacket is 166 metres, and it is being installed at a water depth of 152 metres. The jacket has 12 piles, with a total weight of 7500 tonnes.
The transportation and installation of the jacket will use a number of SOCAR/KMNF (Khazardenizneftdonanmasi) vessels including the two principal installation vessels – the Derrick Barge Azerbaijan (DBA) and the STB-1 launch barge. The DBA has been further upgraded to undertake the installation work.
The jacket transportation activities were also supported by two high capacity tugs - the Islay and the Jura. These are two identical vessels leased from the KMNF / BUE alliance fleet. The tugs were required to tow the STB-1 to the offshore site safely as the jacket’s exposed windage area was very high. Other marine vessels involved in towage, anchor handling and supply boat trips were the Nercha, the Pacific Raider, and the Svetlomor-2.
The installation work has been carefully planned and it is expected to take 45-50 days to complete, including allowance for the weather conditions.
Photos available.
Note to Editors: The ACG Production Sharing Agreement (PSA), signed in September 1994, covers the 30 year development of the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli contract area. It is estimated that 5.4 billion barrels of oil will be recovered during the PSA period. The field is being developed in several phases: Chirag has been producing since 1997 as part of the Early Oil Project (EOP). This was followed by Azeri Project Phase 1 - Central Azeri production in early 2005. Successive phases include West Azeri, which started production in early 2006, and East Azeri, scheduled to come on stream in early 2007 as Azeri Project Phase 2, with ACG Phase 3 - Deepwater Gunashli, already under construction and expected to begin production in 2008.
Tamam Bayatly at BP’s Press Office in Baku, telephone: 994 (0) 12 599 4557