BP PLC (BP) Tuesday said oil production has begun on schedule at its Gunashli fields in Azerbaijan's sector of the Caspian Sea.
On plateau, the Gunashli complex will produce approximately 320,000 barrels of oil a day, BP said in a statement. Production will increase through 2008 as other pre-drilled wells are brought on-stream, prior to commencing platform drilling, BP said.
When plateau production is achieved, it will bring total production on the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli, or ACG, fields to over one million barrels a day, BP said. This oil will be exported to Turkey's Mediterranean coast through the Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan pipeline.
Bill Schrader, BP's President in Azerbaijan said: "This achievement maintains our track record of on schedule project delivery for the development of the ACG field."
BP is the operator of ACG with just over a third of the equity. Chevron PLC (CVX), Azeri state oil company SOCAR, Austrialia's INPEX, StatoilHydro ASA (STO), ExxonMobil Corp. (XOM), state-controlled Turkish Petroleum Corporation, Devon Energy Corp. (DVN), Itochu Corp. (8001.TO) and Hess Corp. (HES) are minority partners.
Chirag has been producing since 1997, followed by Central Azeri production in early 2005. West Azeri started production in January 2006 and East Azeri started in October 2006.