Oil output from BP-led oilfields in Azerbaijan in the first quarter of 2015 was slightly higher than a year earlier, BP-Azerbaijan said on Wednesday, driving a rise in the country's total oil production.
Oil output at the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) oilfields, which account for most of Azerbaijan's output, rose to 8 million tonnes in January-March from 7.9 million in the same period last year.
Daily oil production at the ACG fields rose to an average 661,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 645,800 bpd a year ago.
BP said in its report it spent around $160 million in operating expenditure and $470 million in capital expenditure on the ACG activities in the first three months of this year.
Azerbaijan said total crude oil and condensate production in Azerbaijan rose to 14.2 million tonnes in the first four months of 2015 from 13.6 million a year earlier, driven by rising oil output at the ACG fields.
Falling output at the ACG oilfields has been a cause of concern in Baku.
BP and its partner, Azeri state energy company SOCAR, tried to calm those worries in 2013, saying production had stabilised. Total oil output rose in 2013 for the first time since 2011, but the decline resumed in 2014.
BP said earlier this week it would suspend operations at one of its ACG platforms for three weeks at the end of May for planned maintenance.
Natural gas output from the Shah Deniz offshore field in Azerbaijan rose to 2.6 billion cubic metres (bcm) in the first quarter of this year from 2.32 bcm in the same period of 2014.
It produced 0.6 million tonnes of condensate, the same as in the first quarter of last year.
Shah Deniz is estimated to contain 1.2-1.5 trillion cubic metres of gas.
Shah Deniz I has been pumping gas since 2006, while gas from its second stage is expected to reach Europe by 2019-2020.
Overall gas production in Azerbaijan fell to 9.7 bcm in January-April from 10.2 bcm a year earlier due to a decline in production by SOCAR.
Azerbaijan plans to produce 40.3 million tonnes of oil and 29 bcm of gas in 2015.
(Reuters)
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