BP sends second Shah Deniz 2 jacket offshore

BP, the operator of the Shah Deniz 2 project, has informed of the sail away of the second jacket for the Caspian Sea project’s platforms. 

The Quarters and Utilities (QU) platform jacket sailed away to the Shah Deniz contract area in the Caspian Sea from the Heydar Aliyev Baku Deepwater Jackets Factory (BDJF) ahead of schedule on 15 March.

The transportation, launch, positioning, pile installation and final completion activities of the jacket structure are expected to take around 75 days, depending on the prevailing weather conditions.

BP has also shared that the construction of the jacket was completed ahead of schedule on February 20, 2017 and was then  loaded onto the transportation barge STB-1 at the quayside of BDJF.

The QU platform jacket, built by the BOS Shelf, Star Gulf and Saipem consortium, was fully constructed in Azerbaijan, using local construction infrastructure and facilities.

According to BP, some 2000 people including sub-contractors and specialist vendors were involved in the construction works. Some 90% of the construction workforce was Azerbaijani citizens.

Ewan Drummond, Vice-President, Shah Deniz 2 Projects, said: “The second jacket sail away is the first major milestone planned for this year and we are pleased to have achieved it ahead of schedule. 2017 is an important year for BP and for the Shah Deniz 2 project, which is already around 90% complete. We have planned a series of key completion milestones for this year. We are committed to achieving all of these milestones on schedule to make BP’s 25th anniversary celebrations in Azerbaijan a big success.”

The QU platform jacket weighs approximately 12,084 tonnes and stands 105 metres high. It contains 31 J Tubes, 7 utility caissons and 3 J tube caissons. The jacket will be installed in a water depth of 95 metres.

Shah Deniz Stage 2 is a project that will add a further 16 billion cubic meters per year (bcma) of gas production to the approximately 9 bcma produced by Shah Deniz Stage 1. The Shah Deniz Stage 2 includes two new bridge-linked offshore platforms and a total of 26 gas production wells to be be drilled with two semi-submersible rigs. Around 500 km of subsea pipelines will link the wells with the onshore terminal. The project will also include an upgrade of the offshore construction vessels, and expansion of the Sangachal terminal to accommodate the new gas processing and compression facilities.

First gas is targeted in late 2018, with supplies to Georgia and Turkey. Gas deliveries to Europe are expected just over a year after first gas.