Khoshbakht Yusifzade, the First Vice-President of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) on geology, geophysics and field development said in an exclusive interview with Trend that in 2006 the oil production in Azerbaijan will exceed 30 million tons, which will beat the record in the history of Country's oil industry.
Maximum oil production in the Country was recorded at 23.5 million tons in 1941. In Azerbaijan a total of 22.2 million tons of oil was produced.
In 2010 oil production in Azerbaijan is forecasted to reach some 60 million tons. A major rise in the oil production is achieved through the development of Azeri, Chirag and Deepwater fields, the SOCAR Vice-President stated.
With regards to oil production in the fields by SOCAR, at SOCAR's own expense, Yusifzade said that the Company's major task is to maintain the production at a stable level, around 9 million tons a year.
Speaking about the prospect of further development of old onshore fields, the SOCAR Vice-President said that optimal oil volumes are being extracted from these fields. They are producing to their maximum potential. The level of production in the onshore field that we develop jointly with the foreign companies can be estimated as normal, he stressed. Furthermore, we can consider exploration work in the secondary layers to increase onshore production.
Touching upon the gas operations, Yusifzade said that the commencement of the gas production from the Shah Deniz Field at the end of 2006 will enable Azerbaijan to cut back on Russian gas imports.