Azerbaijan, Baku, March 15 / Trend A. Badalova /
Oil production in Azerbaijan will increase by 30,000 barrels per day - up to 1.1 million barrels per day in 2011. These forecasts are contained in the OPEC's March report on oil market.
This figure is slightly (15,000 bpd) less than the production volume forecasted by OPEC last month.
According to OPEC forecasts, the highest level of oil production in Azerbaijan next year will be observed in the first quarter - 1.11 million barrels per day. The production will hit 1.09 million barrels in the second and third quarters, 1.1 million barrels per day in the fourth quarter.
According to OPEC, oil production in the country totaled 1.07 million barrels per day in 2010.
According to BP, the proven oil reserves of Azerbaijan amounted to 7 billion barrels as of early 2010. Oil production in the country amounted to 1.033 million barrels per day in 2009, or 13.5 percent more than in 2008.
The main volume of oil produced in Azerbaijan falls to the offshore field Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli. This area produces Azeri Light oil with a sulfur content of 0.15 percent (35 degrees API).
Participants of the project to develop Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli are: BP (operator - 37.43 percent), Chevron (11.27 percent), SOCAR (10 percent), INPEX (10.96 percent), Statoil (8.56 percent), Exxon (8 percent), TPAO (6.75 percent), Itochu (4.3 percent), Hess (2.72 percent).