Azernews.Az

BAKU – BP Plc experienced a downfall in its first half 2011 production level in Azerbaijan. A drop in gas demand during summer as well as maintenance activities led to the production decline, the company said in a report.

The BP-led consortium Azerbaijan International Operation Company (AIOC) highlighted that its Chirag, Azeri and Gunashli (ACG) oilfields in the Caspian Sea produced 19 million tons (140.4 million barrels) of oil in January-June 2011, down 5.9% from the year-earlier level of 20.2 million tons.

Additionally, during the first half of 2011, AIOC-operated Shahdaniz gas field produced 3.07 billion cubic meters of gas, down from 3.6 bcm in the same period a year ago.

The offshore Shahdaniz field is operated by the British oil giant with a 25.5% share, with the other partners being Statoil ASA, NICO, Total SA, LukAgip, TPAO and Azerbaijani state energy firm SOCAR. On the other hand, ACG oilfields are divided between the operator BP with 35.8% share and Chevron Corp., Inpex, SOCAR, Statoil, ExxonMobil Corporation, TPAO, Itocu and Hess Corporation.

BP Azerbaijan intends to produce 51.5 million tons of oil and 28 bcm of gas in 2011 in the region versus 50.83 million tons and 26.2 bcm, respectively, in 2010.

Last year, the Shahdaniz field - with estimated reserves of around 1.2 trillion cubic meters - produced about 6.9 bcm of gas, up from 6.2 bcm in 2009.