Azerbaijan will not stem oil production

Azerbaijan will maintain existing output levels to meet commitments to international oil companies despite falling prices and weakening global demand, said Azerbaijan’s Minister of Energy, Natig Aliyev, earlier this week.

“We are not a country who increases or decreases production depending on volatility on the world oil,” the minister said, pointing to the requirements of international consortiums in Azerbaijan, in an interview.

Aliyev spoke to Gulf News on the sidelines of the Gulf Intelligence Energy Forum in Fujairah on Tuesday.

The former communist republic of the USSR produces a marginal 860,000 barrels a day; however, Aliyev said it is interested in the international consortiums producing more. International oil companies BP, Total and Statoil, among others, are active in Azerbaijan’s energy sector.

Brent crude, a global market oil price indicator, continued to fall on Wednesday to touch $96.64 a barrel at mid-day London trade. The indicator slid less than 24-hours after the United States said it and five other Arab countries, including the United Arab Emirates, used air strikes against the Islamic State in Syria.

Last week, Opec Secretary General, Abdullah Al Badri, said he expects the 12 member nation group to cut its oil output target in response to lowering prices when it meets in November. Opec’s preferred price is $100 a barrel.

Azerbaijan is not a member of Opec (Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries).

On Tuesday, the UAE Minister of Energy, Suhail Al Mazroui, said it was too early to comment on whether Opec will cut its target. The same day the minister’s undersecretary, Matar Hamed Al Neyadi, said the UAE, an Opec member, intends on increasing production this year.

Aliyev also said he is interested in seeing more international companies in the energy sector. “Our doors are open to all foreign companies,” he said. He, however, singled out Turkey, which the Azerbaijan government has close ties with. “We invite Turkey to participate in all our upstream projects.”

This month construction started on a new gas pipeline to Turkey. The State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) holds a 58 per cent stake in the pipeline, BP holds a 12 per cent stake while two state-owned Turkish companies hold the remaining.

Bakudaily.Az