Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 17
By Anastasia Savchenko - Trend:
A slight downward trend can be observed in production in Azerbaijan's oil and gas industry, compared to last year, Director of the Caspian Barrel Oil Research Center Ilham Shaban told Trend.
"Last year, for the first time in seven years since 2011, there was a period of growth in oil production [in Azerbaijan]. In general, 2018 was remembered for stabilization in the oil production. In the period of January-August 2019, a decrease of 3.5 percent was observed, compared to the indicators in the same period of 2018," the expert said.
"The year 2019 sees increase in the volumes of commercial gas production. Last year, 19 billion cubic meters of commercial gas were produced, while this year production of over 24 billion cubic meters of gas is expected. This growth was achieved due to the development of Shah Deniz 2, as well as the opening of new markets in Turkey, the sales via the Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline (TANAP)," Shaban added.
According to the expert, the same trend will continue next year, that is, oil production volumes are expected to fluctuate, and the losses will be compensated for by the increase in condensates. As in 2019, next year, the same volumes of oil production of about 38 million tons can be expected.
"Various international energy agencies forecast a decrease in Brent oil prices next year. If this year they expect a price of $65 per barrel, then in 2020, on average, they estimate a price of $62-63, while the pessimistic forecast is around $59-60 per barrel," the expert summed up.
The price for a barrel of Brent Dated, produced from the North Sea, stood at $59.45 on Oct. 16.
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