BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 30 (UPI) -- A division of BP in Azerbaijan said it started production from a platform associated with the supergiant Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli oil field in the Caspian Sea.
Azerbaijan International Operations Co., a BP-controlled company, said oil was being produced from the West Chiraq platform tied to the Caspian oil field.
BP Regional President Gordon Birrell said more than 2.3 billion barrels of oil have been produced from the ACG field to date and the new operations mean production will increase through 2014.
"BP as the operator of the ACG field and our partners are committed to continuing the efforts that are expected to take us step by step towards optimization of production and maximization of the field recovery," he said in a statement Wednesday.
The State Oil Co. of Azerbaijan, which holds an 11 percent stake in the project, said the platform is situated in shallow waters. It has a design capacity of 183,000 barrels of oil per day.
BP in 2012 was criticized by the Azeri government for not preforming well enough at the ACG complex, one of the largest oil reserve areas of its kind in the world.
