Azernews.Az

By Ayya Lmahamad

Azerbaijan will increase its oil production in May, June and July in line with the new production commitment decision adopted at the 15th Ministerial Meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC countries, the Energy Ministry’s press service has reported.

To meet the new commitment, Azerbaijan will increase its daily crude oil production by 8,000 barrels in May, 7,000 barrels in June, and 10,000 barrels in July. Thus, the country will produce 115,000 barrels in May, 108,000 barrels in June, and 98,000 barrels in July.

In the meantime, Azerbaijan’s daily crude oil production will be maintained at 603,000 barrels in May, 610,000 barrels in June, and 620,000 barrels in July.

Azerbaijan’s Energy Minister Parviz Shabazov has said that the gradual increase in production and mitigation of shortages are adequate to the market and will contribute to the regulatory process.

"Recently, the global oil market has become more balanced, commercial oil reserves have declined and the oil price corridor has become relatively stable. In this respect, the situation is appropriate for the implementation of our three-months production plans. In addition to the positive trends in the oil market, the risks still remain, which necessitates the growth of production within the scope of the intended volumes, not exceeding quotas and the implementation of compensations,” the minister said.

Shahbazov emphasized that adherence by participants of the Declaration of Cooperation to their commitments will ensure the necessary support to the oil market in the future.

In April 2020, OPEC and non-OPEC countries entered into an agreement on the reduction of daily oil production by 9.7 million barrels in May-June and 164,000 barrels for Azerbaijan.

In the second phase of the agreement, covering the period from August 1 to December 31, the daily production of crude oil in OPEC+ countries was reduced by 7.7 million barrels, which is 18 percent less than in October 2018.

According to the agreement reached at the 12th Ministerial Meeting, Azerbaijan had to increase daily oil production by 8,000 barrels and keep production at the level of 595,000 barrels in January.

Additionally, at the 13th Ministerial Meeting of the OPEC+ countries, it was decided to continue the existing quotas on daily crude oil production in February-March, and later, at the 14th Ministerial Meeting to continue with the existing quotas on daily crude oil production in April.

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Ayya Lmahamad is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @AyyaLmahamad

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