Construction of the terminal began in 1996 with the Early Oil Project, which foresaw the construction of pipelines to Supsa and Novorossiysk. Oil was first exported in October 1997. The terminal has since been expanded to include the ACG Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3 Oil Trains, BTC's main pumping station and the Shah Deniz gas plant. Facilities at the oil production plant include separators, coalescers, three new crude oil storage tanks, Export Pumps, gas turbine power generators and a central control room.[1]
Sangachal Terminal Expansion Program
The Sangachal Terminal Expansion Program (STEP) was started in November 2001. The construction included 15,000 cubic metre of concrete, 1,600 units of steel structures, 25,000 metres (82,000 ft) of pipe, 450,000 metres (1,480,000 ft) of cables. Apart from technological works, civil construction included living accommodations for 550 people, cafeteria, movie theater, soccer field, etc. US$1.2-2 billion was spent for sub-projects realized within the STEP project.[2][3]
From the Sangachal Terminal four oil and gas pipelines carry crude oil and natural gas to the Black Sea, Turkey and the Mediterranean Sea.
The terminal expansion contract was awarded to Tekfen-Azfen joint venture[4] which employed nearly 4,000 employees for the project, 75% of which were Azerbaijani citizens. Due to finalization of the main part of the project, this number was reduced to 1,720 employees.[2]
Technical features
Sangachal Terminal has a processing capacity of 1.2 million barrels per day (190×10^3 m3/d) and 1.25 billion cubic feet (35×10^6 m3) of gas per day (bcfd). The three new crude oil storage tanks added during the STEP have a capacity of 880 thousand barrels (140×10^3 m3) each.[5] The overall storage capacity at the terminal is 3 million barrels (480×10^3 m3).[6] As of November 2009, the terminal exports 941.4 thousand barrels per day (149.67×10^3 m3/d).[7]
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