Oil & gas production grows
![Oil & gas production grows](https://www.azernews.az/media/2019/08/05/oil_production_up.jpg)
By Mirsaid Ibrahimzade
Azerbaijan’s burgeoning oil and gas sector still accounts for a huge share in the country’s GDP.
Extraction of crude and unconventional oil and natural gas in Azerbaijan amounted to 793,000 barrels per day in 2018 against 783,000 barrels per day in 2017, reads the report "World Oil Review - 2019" of the Italian company Eni.
The report says that oil consumption in Azerbaijan amounted to 97,000 barrels per day in 2018 compared to 96,000 per day in 2017. Oil consumption per capita was 3.57 barrels in 2018, remaining unchanged compared with 2017.
According to Eni, the volume of imports of crude and unconventional oil in Azerbaijan was 1,000 barrels per day in 2018.
The report reads that oil reserves in Azerbaijan reached 7 billion barrels in 2018, which remained the same compared with 2017.
According to the Azerbaijani Ministry of Energy, oil production in the country amounted to 768,000 barrels per day in June 2019.
The daily volume of crude oil exports from Azerbaijan in June amounted to 471,000 barrels, condensate exports – to 72,000 barrels, and petroleum products exports – to 19,200 barrels.
Azeri–Chirag–Gunashli (ACG) is the largest oil and gas field in the Caspian Sea, covering more than 432 square kilometers. A contract for the development of ACG block of oil and gas fields was signed in 1994 for 30 years.
Proven oil reserves of ACG block of oil and gas fields are estimated at 1.2 billion tons, while gas reserves make 350 billion cubic meters.
On September 14, 2017, a modified and redeveloped agreement was signed on joint development and shared distribution of production from the Azeri, Chirag fields and the deepwater part of the Gunashli field (ACG). The new agreement provides for the development of the field until 2050.
The new OPEC+ deal, in which the countries of the cartel cut production by 800,000 barrels per day and non-OPEC countries – by 400,000 per day, was concluded on December 7, 2018. Following the meeting of the ministers of OPEC and non-OPEC countries in Vienna on July 2, the agreement on limiting oil production was extended until the end of the first quarter of 2020.
Azerbaijan supported the proposal of the OPEC+ monitoring committee on the extension of the deadline to reduce oil production and joined the agreement to support the process of world oil market regulation. As part of the agreement, Azerbaijan reduced daily production by 20,000 barrels since January 1, 2019.
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Mirsaid Ibrahimzade is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @MirsaidIbrahim1
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