BP, the operator of the giant Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) oil project in the Caspian Sea, has started oil production from its new Azeri Central East (ACE) off Azerbaijan. The ACE platform is designed to process up to 100,000 bbl/d (2 Mt/year) of oil and the project is expected to produce up to 300 mbl over its lifetime. Crude oil will then be exported to the onshore Sangachal terminal via a new in-field pipeline linked to an existing subsea export line. This is the seventh oil producing platform installed on the ACG oil field, which began production in 1997 and has produced over 4.3 Gbl of oil since then.
In 2017, the government of Azerbaijan and its partners amended and restated the original 30-year Production Sharing Agreement (PSA), set to expire in 2024, and extended it until 2049. Under the framework of the new agreement, BP remained the operator of the ACG field with a 30.37% stake, but the state-owned national oil company SOCAR doubled its equity share from 11.65% to 25%, and the participating interests of all partners have been adjusted (MOL (9.57%, acquired in 2020 from Chevron), INPEX (9.31%), Equinor (7.27%), ExxonMobil (6.79%), TPAO (5.73%), ITOCHU (3.65%), and ONGCVidesh (2.31%)). Additionally, the international co-venturers had to pay a bonus of US$3.6bn to SOFAZ, the State Oil Fund.
In 2022, Azerbaijan produced 28 Mt of crude oil (down from nearly 49 Mt in 2010) and over 6 Mt of oil products (stable since 2010).