Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

Energy giant BP has announced the volumes of oil and gas production under the large-scale projects implemented in resource-rich Azerbaijan in 2012.

According to the company's report on the financial and operating performance in the period 2008-2012, BP's daily production within its participating interest in the project on developing the block of Azerbaijani offshore oil and gas fields Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) made up 82,000 barrels in 2012 compared to 86,000 barrels in 2011.

According to the report, BP's oil and condensate production volume in Azerbaijan constituted 92,000 barrels. The figure was 94,000 barrels in 2011.

Further, the report said BP accounted for 4.5 million cubic meters per day of gas production in Azerbaijan in 2012 against 4 million cubic meters in 2011.

BP has been active in Azerbaijan since 1992. It is the operator of the ACG development as well as the project on developing Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz offshore gas condensate field.

Azerbaijan is an important current and future supplier of both oil and natural gas. The ACG and Shah Deniz fields in the Caspian Sea are the country's largest hydrocarbon deposits.

The contract on the ACG full field development was signed in 1994. Oil reserves at the ACG are estimated at 1.2 billion tons. ACG project shareholders are: operator BP (35.83 per cent), Chevron (11.27 per cent), Inpex (10.96 per cent), AzACG (11.6 per cent), Statoil (8.56 per cent), Exxon (8 per cent), TPAO (6.75 per cent), Itochu (4.3 per cent) and Hess (2.72 per cent). Hess has sold its share to Indian ONGC and the transaction will be completed in the first quarter of 2013.

Reserves of the Shah Deniz field are estimated at 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas. The contract to develop the offshore field was signed in 1996. Shareholders of the project are BP and Statoil with 25.5 percent each, NICO, Total, Lukoil and SOCAR with 10 percent each, and TPAO with 9 percent.