Azerbaijan, Baku, 8 February / Trend / In January 2008, the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) , operation companies (ОC) and joint ventures (JV) produced 737,000 tons of oil on the onshore and offshore fields, which is by 22,400 tons less as compared to 2006, SOCAR reports.
The oil production by the Oil and Gas Production Department (OSPD) made up 635,000 tons from the onshore and offshore in January, which is by 15,000 tons less as compared to 2006. The Foreign companies produced 102,000 tons of oil by OC and JV, which is by 8,000 tons less as compared to 2006.
According to the forecasts, this year the SOCAR, JV and OC will produce 8.7mln tons of oil, with 7.430mln tons belonging to SOCAR and 1.270mln tons to JV and OC.
In January, the total volume of gas production made up 638mln of cu m in Azerbaijan, which is by 177.3mln of cu m more as compared to 2006. Out of that, 627mln cu.m was produced by SOCAR only, an increase of 180.6mln cu.m from 2006. OC and JV produced 11mln m of gas, which is 35.5mln cu.m less than as compared to the same period in 2006.
The Azerbaijani International Operation Company (AIOC) produced 138.43mln cu.m of casing-head gas on the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli field for SOCAR, which is less by 99.6mln cu.m as compared to 2006.
According to forecasts, in 2008, SOCAR will produce 7.85bln cu.m of gas, OC and JV - 150mln cu.m. Azerbaijan will receive 2.9bln cu.m of gas from Shah Deniz. This year, the AIOC will transfer 1.4bln cu.m of gas to Azerbaijan.
There are 57 oil and gas fields in Azerbaijan. Eighteen are onshore and the others offshore. There are about 60,000 workers in SOCAR.
Oil and gas production of SOCAR in January:
| Oil(thousand of tons) | January | ||
| 2007 | 2006 | % | |
| Total | 736,91 | 759,32 | 97 |
| OSPD SOCAR | 634,86 | 649,65 | 97,7 |
| OC and JV | 102,05 | 109,67 | 93 |
| Gas(mln. m3) | |||
| Total | 637,95 | 460,64 | 138,5 |
| OSPD SOCAR | 627,09 | 446,43 | 180,66 |
| OC and JV | 10,86 | 14,21 | 76,4 |
| AIOC (for SOCAR) | 138,43 | 238,04 | 58,2 |