BP Vice President: Chirag gas lift work nears completion

The erection of a gas lift system on the Chirag platform, which will allow maintaining the level of oil production from the oldest platform at Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli, is being completed and its commissioning is expected next year, Report informs, citing Bakhtiyar Aslanbeyli, BP's regional vice president for communications and external relations.

The company has taken advantage of the platform shutdown for repairs and maintenance this year and completed the preparatory work for the installation of equipment for the gas-lift system.

Gaslift will help to increase the life of the field and to produce oil, which would not have been possible to extract from the bowels of the earth without it due to the natural drop in reservoir pressure.

Chirag was the first installed offshore platform as part of the ACG early oil project. Production from it began in 1997. Now daily production has dropped to 29,000 bpd from 34,900 bpd last year.