Azerbaijan, Baku, Aug. 9 / Trend A. Badalova /
Azerbaijan's oil production in the fourth quarter of 2011 will amount to 1.12 million barrels per day as compared to 1.1 million bpd in the third quarter and 1.03 million bpd compared to the same period of the last year. These forecasts are contained in OPEC's August report on the oil market.
OPEC forecast of oil production in the fourth quarter increased by 10,000 bpd.
As a result of 2011, OPEC expects oil production in the country at 1.07 million bpd, which is similar to production volume in 2010.
According to OPEC forecasts, in the third quarter of 2011, oil production in Azerbaijan will increase to 1.1 million bpd as compared to 1.02 million bpd in the second quarter.
According to estimates of OPEC, oil production in the country in the first half of 2011 fell by 50,000 bpd as compared to the same period of the last year. However, OPEC expects production growth in the second half of the year.
OPEC left unchanged the forecasts of oil production in Azerbaijan in 2012. According to expectations of OPEC, the oil production in the country next year will increased by 50,000 bpd to 1.11 million bpd.
The largest volume of production next year will be recorded in the first quarter - 1.13 million bpd. In the second and third quarters, oil production will be 1.1 million bpd, in the fourth - 1.12 million bpd.
According to BP, the proven oil reserves of Azerbaijan amounted to 7 billion barrels as of early 2011. Oil production in the country amounted to 1.037 million bpd in 2010.
The main volume of oil produced in Azerbaijan falls to the offshore field Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli. This area produces Azeri Light oil with a sulfur content of 0.15 percent (35 degrees API).
Participants of the project to develop Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli are: BP (operator - 35.83 percent), Chevron (11.27 percent), Inpex (10.96 percent), AzACG (11.6 percent), Statoil (8.56 percent), Exxon (8 percent), TPAO (6.75 percent), Itocu (4.3 percent) and Hess (2.72 percent).