Bp Expects ACG Oil Output To Rise By Year-End Despite Natural Decline

(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 13. Oil production at the Azeri-Chirag-Gunesli (ACG) field is expected to increase by the end of 2026 compared to the beginning of the year, despite the natural decline in production at mature fields, Vice President for Subsurface in Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Türkiye at bp, Dan Sparkes, said, Trend `s correspondent reports.

He made the remark during the information session“Supporting Production from ACG: New Approaches and Technology,” held as part of the SOCAR and bp Energy Dialogue Platform on Friday.

According to him, the potential for further increasing investment in drilling is constrained by inherent operational conditions.

"With simultaneous well-intervention work and drilling operations underway, and all available drilling rigs already in use, it is not possible to rapidly increase the number of rigs and platforms," Sparkes said.

He noted that, as a result, companies have focused on enhancing productivity.

"Efforts are being directed along two paths: increasing the number of wells drilled annually using the existing rig fleet, and extending the length of the reservoir sections penetrated by each well.

To achieve this, new well designs have been developed to improve drilling efficiency and expand access to productive reservoir zones. Specifically, technologies are being employed that allow the wellbore to be steered along the reservoir, tracking its productive interval and adjusting the drilling trajectory in real time," Sparkes said.

He pointed out that the drilling of horizontal and multilateral wells is one example of this approach. The company first successfully tested the technology over sections spanning several hundred meters, before drilling a well with a 1,000-meter horizontal section within the reservoir.

"Subsequently, the technology was applied in a more complex, previously untapped area of the field, where the length of the reservoir section reached 2,000 meters. This well has become one of the most productive at ACG in over a decade," he added.

Sparkes explained that these productivity gains are driven by a combination of new drilling technologies, longer reservoir penetration, and insights from 4D seismic surveys, which help identify areas where oil remains following earlier stages of development.

According to him, the number of wellbore intervals drilled within productive formations this year has increased by approximately 50% compared to last year. He remarked that the company has managed to simultaneously increase both the number of such intervals and the total length of the reservoir sections penetrated.

He also informed that, thanks to the measures taken, the rate of natural production decline at the ACG field complex has been reduced from approximately 12% to 3%.

"Having managed to reduce the production decline rate from about 12% to 3%, it appears that we'll finish the year at ACG with higher production levels than we started with. This is an incredible result for a mature field," Sparkes highlighted.

MENAFN13112026000187011040ID1111957045