Azerbaijan follows oil cut deal
By Gunay Camal
Azerbaijan, one of oil-producing nations that struck a deal to cut output along with OPEC, has submitted the daily oil production data for March 2017 to the OPEC Joint Technical Committee (JTC).
Azerbaijan’s Energy Ministry told Trend that the country’s oil output in March 2017 amounted to 733,300 barrels, 40,000 barrels of which accounted for condensate.
The Energy Ministry further informed that 596,000 barrels of oil, 40,000 barrels of condensate and 23,000 barrels of petroleum products were exported daily.
Last December, 11 non-OPEC countries, including Azerbaijan, agreed to curtail oil output jointly by 558,000 barrels per day. The agreement was signed for the first half of 2017, with the possibility of extension.
The Joint Technical Committee was created January 22 under the OPEC Monitoring Committee, designed to monitor the implementation of countries’ obligations to cut oil production.
The participation of Azerbaijan in joint oil production cuts is defined at 35,000 barrels per day.
The volume of daily production last month amounted to some 776,400 barrels, while the volume of daily export at 604,100 barrels of oil with some 50,000 barrels accounting for condensate and 26,800 barrels fall to a share of oil products. This January, the volume of daily production amounted to some 793,900 barrels, while the daily export was 617,000 barrels.
Energy Ministry’s spokesperson Zamina Aliyeva earlier said that the country is optimistic on the outcome of the OPEC output cut deal struck in late 2016 and supports extending the current deal beyond its June deadline.
"The execution of the oil cut deal is accompanied by a positive trend – the rising oil prices in the market. If at a regular meeting of OPEC, it will be decided to extend the agreement on the reduction of oil production, Azerbaijan is ready to take appropriate steps,” Aliyeva said.
Energy-rich Azerbaijan produces three grades of crude oil - Azeri BTC, Azeri Light, and Urals. The price of a barrel of Azeri Light crude oil increased $0.10 to stand at $53.72 on the world markets on April 4.
Prior to the landmark deal, the volume of production in the country was at the level of 37.72 million tons of oil, while daily output stood at 829,100 barrels. Oil production of the country in 2017 is forecasted to stand at 39.797 million, while average daily oil production will amount to 800,000-807,000 barrels.
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