UK supermajor BP has started construction of its Azeri Central East (ACE) platform, the latest facility connected with the further development of the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) oilfields in Azerbaijan’s Caspian Sea waters.

According to ACE project manager Neal Phillips, construction of the topsides, which is being led by local contractor Azfen, is under way at a fabrication yard near the capital Baku.

“Over the years during previous projects for BP, Azfen has built up capacity and expertise. Investments have been made for years into the yard, so it doesn’t need any further upgrades,” said Phillips.

The jacket construction will start this month in Baku’s deep-water jackets factory, he added.

Azfen is the lead contractor, with support from UK player Wood and Turkey’s Tekfen, which holds a 40% stake in the Azfen joint venture.

In terms of processing capacity, the ACE platform is similar to the West Chirag facility, which was installed at ACG in 2014. However, at about 18,000 tonnes it is lighter than West Chirag’s 20,000 tonnes.

The ACE project has been optimised to reduce costs, Phillips said.

“The first thing when you are aiming to reduce cost is to simplify the project. We spent a lot of time looking at what facilities we actually needed rather than build the same thing we had done before,” he said.

“Also, we looked at what capability we already have offshore. So, for example, for power supply, we got rid of one generator because we will be able to bring power across from the East Azeri platform,” he added.

Instead of bringing a subsea pipeline back to shore, BP went with a tie-in into the existing pipelines to use spare capacity.

The produced water facility has also been excluded from the scheme. Instead, after some modification work, the Central Azeri facility will process produced water from ACE. This is, however, a separate project with its own budget.

“The produced water will be delivered from the Sangachal terminal to Central Azeri then to ACE through the East Azeri platform for re-injection back into the reservoir,” explained Phillips. ACE will be capable of being operated from the control room at the onshore Sangachal terminal. This will reduce the number of people required on the platform.

“The digital cameras allow us to monitor the equipment from a remote control room, detect seeps and leaks, and predict maintenance,” said Phillips.

Adding automation into a drilling unit will also allow BP to remove workers from the drill floor — again mitigating health and safety risks.

“We made a good start with mobilisation, engineering and moving towards an active phase of construction,” said Phillips.

The peak construction activity is expected at the end of 2021 or beginning of 2022, with 8000 workers set to be involved.

The $6 billion ACE project includes a new offshore platform and facilities designed to process up to 100,000 barrels per day of oil.

It is expected to start production in 2023 and to produce up to 300 million barrels of crude over its lifetime.

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BP begins work on Azeri Central East platform