BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 11
By Nargiz Ismayilova – Trend:
Total incomes worth 14.6 billion manat ($8.5 billion) from oil and gas sales were transferred to State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) in 2019, Trend reports referring to the consolidated financial statement of SOFAZ’s operating profit for 2019.
In accordance with production sharing agreements concluded for the development of onshore and offshore deposits in Azerbaijan, in 2019, revenues from the sale of oil from the in Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) block of oil and gas fields in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea amounted to over 92.1 percent of total revenues under this income article ($7.9 billion).
According to SOFAZ, $277.3 million and $343.2 million came from the sales of natural gas and gas condensate respectively from the Shah Deniz field, and $55.1 million from other fields.
At the same time, since May 2016, total funds in the amount of $820.4 million, which were allocated for the purchase of the corresponding excess annual gas volumes by SOCAR within the Shah Deniz-1 project under the gas sale and purchase agreements between SOCAR and buyers, have not been included into the SOFAZ budget.
The State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan was established in 1999. During that period, its assets amounted to $271 million.
According to the regulation on the SOFAZ, its funds can be used for the construction and reconstruction of strategically important infrastructure facilities, as well as for solving important national problems.
The main objectives of SOFAZ are the accumulation of funds and the placement of the Fund’s assets abroad in order to mitigate the negative impact on the economy, the accumulation of funds for future generations and the support to the current socio-economic processes in the country.
(1 USD = 1.7 manat on July 11)
----
Follow the author on Twitter: @IsmailovaNargis