BAKU

Azerbaijan has exported over 2.3 million tonnes of oil and 2 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas in January, the country’s Energy Ministry said.

The ministry said that 2.2 million tonnes of oil and condensate came from the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) oilfields and Shah Deniz gas field, while the rest was produced by Azerbaijan’s state energy firm SOCAR at old fields.

The country produced 2.9 million tonnes of oil and condensate in the first month of this year. That includes 1.8 million tonnes of oil from the ACG, 0.4 million tonnes of condensate from Shah Deniz and 0.7 million tonnes by SOCAR. Around 583,000 tonnes of oil was processed and refined.

As for natural gas exports, the country exported 0.8 bcm to Turkey, 0.8 bcm – to Europe, 0.4 bcm – to Georgia in January. Azerbaijan produced 4.1 bcm of gas, 12.9 percent up from January 2021. The bulk of the gas, 2.2 bcm, was produced on the Shah Deniz field.

According to the State Customs Committee, Azerbaijan’s oil exports declined, although revenues from its sales rose in January backed by higher oil prices on the world markets. Gas export surged in the first month of the year as the country continued commercial natural gas exports to Europe from its major Shah Deniz II field.

The country reduced oil exports by 12.7 percent year-on-year to 3.5 million tonnes and increased exports of natural gas by 44 percent to 1.613 bcm, the committee said.

Revenues from oil sales rose by 49.4 percent year-on-year to $2.031 billion. The country earned $683.1 million from the ACG oilfields project and $149.9 million from natural gas and condensate sales from the Shah Deniz field in January.

ACG is the largest oil field block in Azerbaijan developed by a BP-led international consortium. The first production sharing agreement for developing the block was signed on September 20, 1994, while a new deal on the joint exploitation of these fields and production sharing was reached on September 14, 2017. The agreement provides for the development of the areas by the end of 2049.

The country uses the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline via Georgia and Turkey to export oil from the ACG. It also exports oil through the Baku-Novorossiisk pipeline via Russia, the Baku-Supsa pipeline via Georgia and by rail in Georgia.

As for natural gas, Azerbaijan mainly produces it at its major offshore Shah Deniz field. The share of gas exports in Azerbaijan’s total exports was 26.02 percent in January.

The opening of the Southern Gas Corridor in December 2020 allowed Azerbaijan to start gas exports to Europe, giving the ex-Soviet country the means to increase its share in the market, until now dominated by Russia.

The BP-led consortium, which develops the project, has been pumping gas from the offshore field’s first phase since 2006, delivering more than 10 bcm a year of gas to Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey. The second phase started output in 2018, adding 16 bcm of gas production capacity at its peak to bring total capacity to 26 bcm.

In 2021, Azerbaijan exported 28.1 million tonnes of oil and around 19 bcm of gas. The country earned $13.9 billion from oil sales and $6.5 billion from sales of natural gas.