Daily Oil Production Increases in Five Times in Azerbaijan since 1997

Azerbaijan, Baku, 12 April / Trend / The average daily oil production totaled 843,000 barrels in Azerbaijan in 2007, which is five times more than th eaverage oil production volume in 1997. In 997, the average daily oil productin was 173,000 barrels, the US State-run Energy Information Agency (EIA) reported.

In 1998, daily average oil production made up 230,000 barrels, 1999 - 276,000 barrels, 2000- 280,000barrels, 2001- 301,000 barels, 2002- 310,000 barrels, 2003 - 320,000 barrels, 2004 - 311,000 barrels, 2005 - 433,000 barrels, 2006 - 640,000 barrels of oil.

Increase in oil production is due to development of new fields and attracted foreign capitals to the process Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli project, being implemented by consortium of foreign companies headed by BP, is the largest oil production project in Azerbaijan.

The sides to the production sharing agreement on Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli field are BP (operator- 34.1%), Chevron (10.2%), SOCAR (10%), INPEX (10%), Statoil (8.6%), ExxonMobil (8%), TPAO (6.8%), Devon (5.6%), ITOCHU (3.9%) and Hess (2.7%).

Azerbaijan exports mainly the oil of Azeri Light brand produced in bloc of fields Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli. The oil is shipped via Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan. The larger proportion of oil is shipped by American ExxonMobil and DevonEnergy from Georgian Batumi port where the Azerbaijani oil is transported by railway. There is also Baku-Supsa oil pipeline which will become operational after repairs in mid-2008. The oil produced by SOCAR in its fields is shipped via Baku-Novorossiysk pipeline.