Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

Azerbaijan predicts the volume of gas production in 2015 at 20 billion cubic meters.

The figure excludes the gas injected into reservoirs, Head of the Investment Department of the Azerbaijani Energy Ministry Ramiz Rzayev said.

There are opportunities to almost double this figure in 2025, Rzayev in an article published on December 2.

The opportunities provided by the country's new gas condensate fields and the potential of prospective fields located in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea create an optimistic forecast, Rzayev said.

He pointed to the prospects of some new fields in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea, such as Absheron and Umid, and prospective sites at Shafag-Asiman, Zafar-Mashal, and Nakhchivan.

"The work carried out within the current projects and the assumptions related to prospective structures indicate that the potential for the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea will exceed our expectations", the article said.

Azerbaijan's proven gas reserves exceed 2.55 trillion cubic meters, while its anticipated gas reserves are estimated at 6 trillion cubic meters.

In the first eleven months of 2013, gas production exceeded 14.62 billion cubic meters of marketable gas, 1.9 percent more than the same period in 2012.

Gas production, excluding associated gas, amounted to 17.24 billion cubic meters in 2012, showing a 5.4 percent increase compared to 2011.

The gas condensate reserves of Azerbaijan's giant Shah Deniz field located in the Caspian Sea is estimated at 1.2 trillion cubic meters.

Azerbaijan's gas export potential is expected to reach 40-50 billion cubic meters by 2025.