Second Topsides Installed on Shah Deniz Platform
The BP-led Shah Deniz consortium said that installation of the second topside of its offshore production platform in the Caspian Sea has been completed. Installation of the first topsides was completed this June and July.
Completion of the second topsides comes as the consortium is preparing to pipe first gas to Turkey in mid-2018 from their Shah Deniz Stage 2 gas project (SD2) offshore Azerbaijan.
The second topsides is for its Production and Risers (PR) platform, whereas the first was for living Quarters and Utilities (QU).
BP Vice President for Projects, Ewan Drummond, said September 21: “The PR platform topsides sail away and safe offshore installation is an extremely important project milestone as it finalises our offshore facilities fabrication delivery. We are very pleased to deliver this final offshore installation activity safely and in time to support the giant Shah Deniz Stage 2 project completion and first gas delivery next year.”
An official told NGW that the platform would be connected to drilled wells in SD2 in October, then to be tested. After that, the first gas would be transited to onshore facilities in Sangachal terminal by March 2018 and all efforts are focused on starting gas delivery to Turkey by June 2018.
BP said the second platform topsides unit weighs about 15,800 metric tons (mt) and is 100 meters long by 60 meters wide. It contains a 133-meter-long flare boom, reception facilities for ten flowlines, five production separators, two flash gas compressors and three production export flowlines.
Two weeks earlier, on September 6, BP said it had launched Khankendi subsea construction vessel worth $378mn, designed and built to install the SD2 subsea production system, which will be the largest in the Caspian Sea.
As of now, SD2 is 95.9%-complete, with the South Caucasus Pipeline extension (SCP) 89.8% complete, the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (Tanap) about four-fifths finished, and TAP around half-completed (50.7%). The 3,500 km route is aimed to transit 16bn m3/yr gas to Turkey and EU by 2021.
Shah Deniz participants are operator BP with 28.8%, Turkish state upstream producer TPAO 19%, Azerbaijan’s state-owned Socar 16.7%, Malaysian state Petronas 15.5%, Russian independent Lukoil 10%, and Iranian state Nico 10%. BP confirmed in April that exemptions from US and EU sanctions continue to apply to Iranian participation in Shah Deniz.
Azerbaijani desk
Production and Risers (PR) platform