Major step forward in $700 million project...
The McDermott Caspian Contractors marine engineering and construction company has started laying a 187 kilometer-long oil pipeline on the Caspian Sea shelf, as part of the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli project, according to a report from the Azerbaijan International Operating Company (AIOC).
AIOC is an international BP-led consortium that develops the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli contract area.
The pipeline is to be launched in 2005 and to link a drilling platform at the center of the Azeri field with the Sangachal terminal based 35 kilometers south of Baku.
Earlier this year and in 2003, McDermott laid two 186 kilometer-long gas pipelines to the terminal.
The whole project provides for laying over 600 kilometers of pipelines, with the cost of laying one kilometer standing at about U.S. USD 1 million. The total project value is estimated at USD 700 million.
