Azerbaijan increases oil & gas production
By Mirsaid Ibrahimzade
Oil production in Azerbaijan in 1Q 2019 amounted to 9.7 million tons, which is 0.15 percent more than in the same period last year, Azerbaijan's State Oil Company SOCAR said in a statement.
Meanwhile, oil exports amounted to about 5.8 million tons in the reporting period.
In January-March 2019, exports of the oil refining and petrochemical industries' products amounted to 456,400 tons, which is 10.5 percent more compared to the same period of 2018.
At the same time, gas production in Azerbaijan amounted to 9.1 billion cubic meters, which is 25.1 percent more than in January-March last year.
SOCAR exported 3.2 billion cubic meters of gas in 1Q 2019, which is 27 percent more compared to the same period last year.
The growth in gas exports is associated with the start of transportation through the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC). So far, 1.4 billion cubic meters of gas has been exported to Turkey.
It is noteworthy that this year, SOCAR will start construction of a new petrochemical complex in Turkey. The enterprise is expected to be commissioned at the end of 2022.
Moreover, company will establish a petrochemical research and development (R&D) center in Turkey by 2020. Its construction will start this year. The R&D center will focus on the development of petrochemical products, materials and energy efficiency, as well as wastewater treatment technologies.
SOCAR's investments in Turkey will reach approximately $20 billion in the future.
Speaking about $40-billion worth Southern Gas Corridor project, it is important to note that it envisages the transportation of 10 billion cubic meters of gas to Turkey and Europe and will be operated within the second stage of the Shah Deniz gas condensate field project in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea.
SGC unites a number of pipeline projects set to bring Azerbaijani gas from Shah Deniz 2 to Europe and to provide energy security of the latter by expanding the number of gas routes to Europe.
The Southern Gas Corridor consists of four segments: Shah Deniz 2, expansion of South Caucasus Pipeline (Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum), the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) and Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP).
The launching ceremony of the first stage of the Southern Gas Corridor was held in Baku on May 29, 2018, while the opening ceremony of TANAP was held on June 12, 2018 in the Turkish city of Eskisehir. TAP and TANAP have already been connected on the Turkish-Greek border.
Perhaps SGC is one of the most ambitious projects in the world of oil and gas industry, as well as a complex target that involves many different stakeholders, including seven governments and 11 companies.
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