Chirag oilfield
Chirag is an offshore oil field in the Caspian Sea, located east of Baku, Azerbaijan and is a part of the larger Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli project. The production, drilling and quarters platform Chirag 1 has been in operation since 1997. Chirag 1 has been producing the Early Oil from the ACG field. West Chirag is planned as an extension of ACG project.
Chirag-1 and Early Oil Project
The Early Oil Project has averaged between of oil since the start of production. It was recognized as the first large-scale oil project in the Caspian Sea region. The project involved investment of $200 million from big financial institutions such as World Bank's IFC and the EBRDand included development of part of the Chirag oil field, namely refurbishment of an existing Chirag 1 platform, construction of new subsea pipelines, drilling of development and water injection wells; construction of Sangachal terminal; construction of oil export terminal in Supsa, Georgia and completion of export pipelines and facilities in Azerbaijan and Georgia
Ownership
The subsidiary of Amoco - Amoco Caspian Sea Petroleum Ltd was the operator for EOP. The partnership also included companies from United States, Russia, Turkey, United Kingdom, Norway, Japan and Azerbaijan.| Company | Share |
| Amoco Caspian Sea Petroleum | 17% |
| Exxon Azerbaijan Ltd | 8% |
| Lukoil Overseas BVI Ltd | 10% |
| Turkiye Petrollero A.O. | 6.8% |
| Unocal Khazar Ltd | 10% |
| BP Exploration Limited | 17% |
| Den Norske Statsoljeskap a.s. | 8.6% |
| State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic | 10% |
| Itochu Corporation | 3.9% |
| Pennzoil Caspian Corporation | 4.8% |
| Ramco | 2.1% |
| Delta | 1.7% |
Sponsors' share of the project costs are estimated at $800 million. IFC loans included five A loans equalling $100 million in total and five B Loans, also $100 million in total.
Technical features
Chirag 1 facilities include:- 24-slot PDQ platform with water injection equipment
- long oil pipeline to the Sangachal terminal just south of Baku
- long gas pipeline to the Oil Rocks offshore town
- long gas pipeline to Central Azeri
- Compression and water injection platform. This part of the field is forecasted to produce until 2024. Initially, the production from Chirag was exported through Baku–Novorossiysk pipeline. Once the Baku-Supsa pipeline became operational in 1999, the production was also directed through Georgia.
West Chirag