BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 8. Azerbaijan's Accounting Chamber, in its conclusion regarding the state budget of the State Oil Fund of the country for 2024, provided data and forecasts for oil production from the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) block of fields, key to replenishing state revenues, Trend reports.
The chamber has forecasted this year to end with ACG production at 133.6 million barrels versus 152 million barrels in 2022.
In 2024, oil production from ACG is expected to be 125.9 million barrels, and in 2025 - 120 million barrels.
At the same time, during 2026-2027, production at this block of fields can remain at approximately 119-120 million barrels per year, that is, the decline will stop.
Commenting on the issue, sources in the oil industry said that stabilization of production will be ensured by oil production from the new ACE (Azeri Central East) production platform, the first oil from which will be produced in 2024.
Besides, the indicators of other areas of the ACG after planned preventive work will be able to “pull up” oil production. Oil production from the ACG block of fields from January through September 2023 amounted to about 100 million barrels, which is 12.3 percent lower than the figure for the first nine months of 2022 and is associated with natural geological depletion of formations.
ACG reserves are estimated at one billion tons of oil.
The ACE platform's maiden oil production is expected for early next year. The ACE platform and equipment can handle up to 100,000 barrels of oil per day. During the course of the project, up to 300 million barrels are estimated to be produced. The platform, which will contain an innovative automation system, will be operated remotely from the Sangachal terminal.
The stakes in ACG are: bp (30.37 percent), State Oil Company of Azerbaijan - SOCAR (25 percent), MOL (9.57 percent), INPEX (9.31 percent), Equinor (7.27 percent), ExxonMobil (6.79 percent), TPAO (5.73 percent), ITOCHU (3.65 percent), ONGC Videsh Limited (2.31 percent).