Baku: In the last 5-7 years, production at the “Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli” (ACG) oil and gas fields has entered a phase of sharp decline, BP’s Area Development Manager for the “Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli” oil and gas field block, Afghan Huseynov, said during his speech at the SPE Caspian Technical Conference, APA-Economics reports.

According to Azeri-Press News Agency, Afghan Huseynov highlighted several investment directions aimed at addressing the decline. One significant initiative is a large-scale seismic program in the Caspian, which began two years ago. This five-year project seeks to enhance the understanding of the field’s geological structure and improve static and dynamic modeling. Huseynov emphasized the potential in the field, noting that approximately half of the recoverable reserves have been extracted, leaving substantial work ahead.

Huseynov also mentioned that over 20 new injector wells have been drilled in the ACG over the past three years. This development has been instrumental in restoring pressure, rebalancing operations, and ensuring the stability of production wells. The introduction of new technologies, including horizontal drilling, has marked significant progress in the region. While horizontal drilling may be common for onshore projects, it represents a major advancement in the challenging South Caspian basin, which is known for its difficult reservoir pressures and fracture gradients.

According to Afghan Huseynov, these initiatives have successfully managed the production decline at ACG to a manageable pace of around 3% per year, preventing the sharp drops observed in previous years.