Oil and gas (January-May 2011)

1. FEC

а ) Oil and gas production

Azerbaijan produced about 20 million tons of oil and condensate in January-May, which is 5 percent less than the same period of 2010, the Azerbaijani State Statistics Committee reported.

Azerbaijan extracted 50.83 million tons of oil in 2010.

The most volume of oil production last year fell to the Shah Deniz gas condensate field and a block of oil and gas fields Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli, developed jointly with foreign partners.
Gas production amounted to more than 10.7 billion cubic meters in Azerbaijan in January-May, or 2.6 percent less than in January-May 2010. Over 6.8 billion cubic meters of gas fell to tank gas in January-may, which is 5.9 percent less than the same period of 2010.

Gas production in Azerbaijan in 2010 amounted to 26.23 billion cubic meters. Some 16.67 billion cubic meters of the total amount of gas produced in the country fell to tank gas.
Azerbaijan produced about 8.7 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in January-May, or 6.2 percent more than the same period of 2010.

b) Refinery

In January-May, Azerbaijan processed over 2.55 million tons of oil compared to 2.6 million tons in January-May 2010, SOCAR, which owns two refineries.

In January-May, the largest volume of production fell to diesel fuel - 970,710 tons compared to 984,480 tons in January-May 2010.

Oil products are produced at two Baku refineries with capacity of 20 million tons of oil per year.

The table reflecting oil products production in thousand tons:

c) Sale

The State Statistics Committee reported that approximately 2 .5 million tons of Azerbaijani oil products were sold to consumers in January- May 2011 , with 67.2 percent on the domestic market and the rest directed for export .

In total 1.65 million tons of oil products was put for the domestic market in Azerbaijan in January to May compared to roughly 1 . 38 million tons in January to May 2010.

About 4 3 6 ,000 tons of the total volume of oil products was petrol, which is an increase of 1 1 . 9 percent than in the same period of 2010. The wholesale price for one ton of А -92 gasoline in the internal market (VAT and transportation costs inclusive) is 670 manat and А -95 - 736 manat. According to the State Statistics Committee, Azpetrol received over 167 , 86 0 tons of gasoline, LUKOIL - about 70 , 200 tons, SOCAR Petroleum 110 , 00 0 tons.

About 419 , 5 00 tons of diesel fuel was sold to the domestic market, which is by 29 . 3 percent more compared to the same period of 2010. The wholesale cost of 1 ton of diesel fuel (VAT and transportation costs inclusive) is 485 manat. Azpetrol received roughly 92 , 30 0 tons of diesel fuel, SOCAR Petroleum- about 95 , 2 00 and LUKoil - over 44 , 9 00 tons, the state statistics agency reported.

Azpetrol has 70 filling stations in Azerbaijan, of which 66 - petrol, 4 - gas stations. An oil tank farm with total capacity of 7,000 tons and car park, meeting international standards was commissioned in 1999 to improve fuel quality, ensure uninterrupted operation of filling stations and improve the quality of customer service. Currently, Azpetrol fleet consists of 110 fuel tankers with capacities ranging from 17 to 42 tons, which provide the company's filling stations with fuel. Azpetrol owns approximately 15 percent of the total number of filling stations in the country. The company's share in the relevant market sector is more than 50 percent.

SOCAR Petroleum currently has six gas stations in Baku. SOCAR plans to open 26-30 stations in Azerbaijan.

About 99 , 9 00 tons of fuel oil was sold to the domestic market, which is 1 6 . 7 percent more than the figure in the same period of 2010. The wholesale price of 1 ton of М -40 fuel oil in Azerbaijan is 100 manat (including delivery and VAT).

A total of 208 , 4 00 tons of aviation kerosene was sold in January-Ma y 2011, 4.1 percent more than in January-Ma y 2010. The price of aviation kerosene is 307 manat per ton (including delivery and VAT). .

The sale of petroleum bitumen totaled 7 2, 6 00 tons, or 4 . 8 percent more than the same period of 2010. The wholesale price of 1 ton of bitumen BN 60/90 (VAT and transportation costs inclusive) is 160 manat.

About 60 , 1 00 tons of liquefied gas were sold on the interior market, which is more by 2 times than in January-Ma y 2010 .

Some 35 0, 2 00 tons of other oil products were also sold, more by 25 . 4 percent than in January- May 2010.

2. Chemical complex

The State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic's (SOCAR) Azerkimya Production Unit (production of chemical products) produced 7, 600 tons of caustic soda in January- May, which is 3.3 times more than the same period of 2010, Azerbaijani State Statistics Committee said.

An increase was observed in several basic chemical products produced by Azerkimya in January- May.

Production of basic chemical products:

Thus, about 2. 842.3 tons of solid polyethylene pipes, tubes and hoses were produced in January- May. It is 19.2 percent more compared to the same period of last year. About 73 tons of porous polyurethane plates and strips were produced in the republic. It is 3 0. 5 percent less than the same period of last year.

3. Electricity

Azerenergy generated about 8.7 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in January-May compared to about 8.2 billion for corresponding period of 2010, the company said.
Over 7.4 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity fell on thermoelectric power stations and about 1.3 billion kilowatt-hours - on hydroelectric power stations of total volume of electricity generated in January-May. Azerenergy generated about 1.4 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in May, which is similar to figure of May 2010. The company also continued the planned flow of electricity with Russia, Turkey, Iran and Georgia.