Azerbaijan cuts oil output 7%, exports 4% in January-October 2023 - Energy Ministry

BAKU. Nov 15 (Interfax) - Azerbaijan cut production of oil with gas condensate by 7% year-on-year to 25.3 million tonnes in January-October 2023, the country's Energy Ministry reported, citing operational data.

A total of 15 million tonnes of oil were produced at the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) block, a decrease of 12.3% year-on-year, in 10M 2023, totaling 59.3% of overall production in Azerbaijan during the period.

Condensate production at the Shah Deniz field remained at the previous year's level of 3.6 million tonnes, and 200,000 tonnes of condensate was obtained at the Absheron field. The State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) produced 6.5 million tonnes of oil with condensate, at the level of January-October 2022, comprising 25.7% of all oil output in the country.

The Energy Ministry said that exports of oil and condensate totaled 21 million tonnes, a decrease of 4.1%, in the reporting period, of which SOCAR accounted for 2.5 million tonnes, an increase of 2.1-fold, and oil from the ACG block and condensate from Shah Deniz accounted for around 18.5 million tonnes, a decrease of 10.6%.

The Baku Oil Refinery ramped up processing 7.8% to 5.5 million tonnes in 10M 2023.

The ministry clarifies that 581.9 million tonnes of oil have been produced at the ACG block since the start of development and as of November 1, 2023, and 43.8 million tonnes of condensate have been produced at the Shah Deniz field. Over 623.7 million tonnes of oil and condensate from the ACG block and the Shah Deniz field have been exported to global markets.