Azerbaijan expects decline in oil production in 2015

Azerbaijan expects its oil output to decline by 2.5 percent year-on-year in 2015, a source close to the government said, driven by declines at fields operated by BP.

Falling output at the main Azeri, Chirag and Guneshli (ACG) oilfields has been a cause of concern in Baku for several years.

British oil major BP and its partner, Azeri state energy firm SOCAR, tried to ease those worries last year by saying production had stabilised. Total oil output grew last year for the first time since 2011 to 43.15 million tonnes.

Earlier this year, however, BP said 2014 oil production at ACG might be slightly lower than in 2013, because it planned maintenance work at the Central Azeri and West Azeri platforms, halting operations for a couple of weeks.

The decline in output is likely to continue into next year, the source said.

"According to our forecasts, oil output in Azerbaijan will decline to 40.62 million tonnes in 2015 from 41.65 million tonnes expected to be produced in 2014," the source told Reuters.

Beyond linking the decline to ACG, he did not want to provide any further explanation.

He said that output may rise slightly to 40.77 million tonnes in 2016 but would decrease again to 39.42 million tonnes in 2017 and 39.32 million tonnes in 2018.

Crude oil and condensate production in Azerbaijan fell to 32.1 million tonnes in January-September this year from 32.8 million tonnes in the same period last year.

ANN.Az