Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov. 12 / Trend A.Badalova /
Azerbaijan's oil production will decrease by 20,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 0.92 million bpd in 2013, OPEC's November oil market report said.
Last month OPEC predicted Azerbaijan's oil production at 0.93 million bpd next year.
According to OPEC's forecasts, the highest level of Azerbaijan's oil production in 2013 will be observed in the first quarter - at 0.94 million bpd.
In the second and third quarters of the year production will amount to 0.90 million bpd, in the fourth quarter - to 0.93 million bpd.
OPEC expects Azerbaijan's oil production to decrease by 20,000 bpd to 0.94 million bpd in 2012, unchanged from last month predictions.
According to OPEC's estimates, during the first three quarters of 2012, the production dropped by 60,000 bpd, compared with the same period a year earlier.
OPEC expects Azerbaijan's oil output to increase to 0.96 million bpd in the fourth quarter of 2012.
According to BP, the proven oil reserves of Azerbaijan amounted to 7 billion barrels as of early 2011. Oil production in the country amounted to 1.037 million bpd in 2010.
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 - 35.83 percent), Chevron (11.27 percent), Inpex (10.96 percent), AzACG (11.6 percent), Statoil (8.56 percent), Exxon (8 percent), TPAO (6.75 percent), Itocu (4.3 percent) and Hess (2.72 percent).