BP Progresses Development of Shah Deniz 2 Project

BP plc reported Thursday that the jacket for one of the Shah Deniz Stage 2 platforms have sailed away from the Heydar Aliyev Baku Deepwater Jackets Factory (BDJF) in Azerbaijan for offshore installation at the Shah Deniz gas field in the Caspian Sea.

Field operator BP said the transportation, launch, positioning and pile installation activities of the Production and Risers (PR) platform jacket structure have been carefully planned, with the work due for completion in around 40 days. The jacket was loaded out July 29 onto the transportation barge STB-1 at the quayside of BDJF ahead of sail away to the Shah Deniz contract area, where it will be installed in a water depth of 308 feet (94 meters).

The PR platform jacket, which weighs 13,150 tons and measuring 344 feet (105 meters) in height, contains 12 production risers, 3 export risers and a dedicated monoethylene glycol (MEG) import riser.

The BOS Shelf-Star Gulf-Saipem consortium build the jacket at BDJF, using local construction infrastructure and facilities. More than 4,700 people, including sub-contractors and specialist vendors, were involved in the construction works, with Azerbaijanis comprising 90 percent of the construction workforce.

"The first jacket sail away is an important milestone and we are pleased to have achieved this as we move towards completion of other areas of the project," Ewan Drummond, vice president, Shah Deniz 2 projects, said in the press release.