Azernews.Az

By Gunay Camal

BP Azerbaijan announced that the company is going to maintain production of Azeri Light oil in Azerbaijan in 2016 at the level of the previous year.

BP Azerbaijan Vice President Bakhtiyar Aslanbayli said that the output level will be kept despite the unfavorable market conditions.

"Despite the decrease in operating expenses due to lower oil prices, extraction of Azeri Light at the end of 2016 is expected to reach last year's, unless any force majeure happens," said the vice-president.

Energy-rich Azerbaijan produces three grades of crude oil - Azeri BTC, Azeri Light, and Urals. Azerbaijan has been producing AZERI LT since 1997 and exports it via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and Baku-Supsa pipelines, as well as by rail to the Georgian port of Batumi.

British giant BP is the operator of the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) block of oil and gas fields in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea.

In 2015, Azerbaijan produced 31.3 million tons of Azeri Light compared to 31.5 million tonnes extracted in 2014. Some 24 million tons of light oil were produced (more than 176 million barrels) in January-September 2016, which is the same figure for January-September last year.

Previously, Azerbaijan unilaterally declared that it will not increase the production and export of its oil.

The average price for AZERI LT CIF, extracted on the block of Azerbaijani fields Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli, was $49.69 per barrel on November 21-25 or $3.23 per barrel more than the previous week.

The maximum price for AZERI LT was $50.17 per barrel and the minimum price was $48.92 per barrel during the reporting period.

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