First oil has been extracted from an offshore platform operated by BP in the Caspian Sea.

The West Chirag platform (pictured) is part of the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) field – which has produced more than 2.3 billion barrels of oil so far – and the overall Chirag Oil Project (COP).

The oil capacity of the new platform is estimated at 183,000 barrels per day and gas export capacity at 285 million cubic feet per day.

Gordon Birrell, BP’s Regional President for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey said: “The start-up of COP marks a major milestone in the development of the super-giant ACG field… We believe COP represents a big step forward towards stabilising ACG’s production and increasing recovery by drilling more wells from the new West Chirag facility.”

Last month a group of companies led by BP signed a multi-billion dollar deal to pipe natural gas from a field off the coast of Azerbaijan to Europe.