BP as operator of the Shah Deniz field development project advises that as part of its SD annual work programme it will implement a planned facility shut down (turnaround – TAR) on the Shah Deniz platform in the Caspian Sea, as well as the Shah Deniz facility inside Sangachal Terminal, in August.
In accordance with the plan, production from the Shah Deniz platform was suspended on 2nd August for about 20 days to enable efficient maintenance, inspection and project work to be undertaken.
This is a routine, planned programme and is part of normal operations. The planning for the programme started in early 2014 and these activities are included in the annual work programme and budget. The shut-down is also included in the annual production forecast.
Production from the ACG Field (Central Azeri, East Azeri, West Azeri, Chirag, Deepwater Gunashli, and West Chirag), as well as export operations via BTC and WREP will continue as normal. The ACG and EOP phases of Sangachal Terminal will continue to operate. Loadings at Ceyhan and Supsa will also continue in accordance with the lifting schedule.
These planned events deliver routine inspection, maintenance and project delivery activities. They are a necessary part of the long term reliability, integrity and production performance, driven by repair and facility modification work that can only be performed during a plant outage.
Earlier SOCAR Vice President Rakhman Gurbanov said that in 2015 it is planned to extract 9.8 billion cub.m. of gas from the Shah Deniz field and in 2014 the extraction totaled 9.9 billion cub.m.
The contract for the Shah Deniz field development was signed in Baku on June 4, 1996 and ratified by the Milli Mejlis on October 17, 1996. The Shah Deniz project partners include BP (operator with 28.8%), Petronas (15.5%), SOCAR (16.7%), LUKoil (10%), NICO (10%) and TPAO (19%).
