BP Hires Azeri-Turkish JV for ACG Rig
BP has contracted the Azfen joint venture between Azeri oil company Socar and Turkish construction firm Tekfen for fabrication work at a seventh platform at the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) oil and gas project.
The contract, worth $486.3mn, covers construction and assembly of topsides of the Azeri East Central (ACE) production and drilling platform, Tekfen said in a statement on August 29, noting this was its sixth rig project in Azerbaijan since entering the country in 1992.
BP and its ACG took a final investment decision (Fid) on Azeri Central East’s $6bn development in April. The unit weighing 17,000 tonnes will be placed at the Azeri field between the East Azeri and Central Azeri platforms, and feature 48 well slots.
Azeri Central East will help boost declining levels of production at ACG over the coming decades. The Caspian Sea project produced 584,000 b/day of oil and sold 2.34bn m3 of gas last year, down from 588,000 b/day and 2.88bn m3 in 2017. Future development will focus more on the fields’ deeper gas reservoirs.
Tekfen said it had 38 months to construct the facility. The Turkish firm has a 40% stake in Azfen while Socar has 60%.
“We aim to extend our expertise in offshore platform construction beyond the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean basin and also to the North Sea,” Tekfen’s general manager Mustafa Kopuz said in a filing. “Very large gas deposits have been discovered off Egypt, with Israel starting offshore operations ,and the need to renew existing platforms in the North Sea offers significant business potential.”