Azerbaijan's Oil Output Seen Down 4% In 2015

Azerbaijan is likely to cut oil production by 4% to 806,000 barrels per day this year, according to an official.

BAKU, March 11 (Reuters) – Azerbaijan is likely to cut oil production by 4 percent to 40.3 million tonnes (806,000 barrels per day) this year while keeping gas output unchanged, a senior official at the state energy company SOCAR said on Wednesday.

"So far, we expect the same volumes of gas, but an increase is possible," SOCAR's first vice-president, Khoshbakht Yusifzade, told reporters.

Crude oil and condensate production in Azerbaijan rose to 3.7 million tonnes in January from 3.6 million tonnes in the same 2014 month, the first monthly increase since 2013.

Crude oil and condensate production in Azerbaijan fell to 41.9 million tonnes last year from 43.1 million tonnes in 2013, while gas output reached 29.2 billion cubic metres (bcm).

Falling output at the main Azeri, Chirag and Guneshli (ACG) oilfields operated by British major BP has been a cause of concern in Baku.

BP and its partner, Azeri state energy firm SOCAR, tried to ease those concerns in 2013, saying production had stabilised. Total oil output rose in 2013 for the first time since 2011 but the decline continued last year.

(Reporting by Nailia Bagirova; Writing by Vladimir Soldatkin and Margarita Antidze; Editing by David Evans)

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