BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 20. This week it became known that the average throughput of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) in 2022 stood at 618,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, the Baku-Supsa pipeline (WREP) - 20,000 barrels per day, and the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) - 189,000 barrels per day, Trend reports.
The current capacity of the Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline (TANAP) is 275,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, and the average capacity in 2022 was 283,000 barrels per day.
Also, it was noted that bp produced 73,000 barrels per day of crude oil (including condensate) in Azerbaijan in 2022, as compared to 77,000 barrels per day in 2021. The volume of crude oil produced by the company in Azerbaijan decreased by 5.19 percent year-on-year.
In addition, daily gas production by bp in Azerbaijan stood at 670 million cubic feet in 2022, as compared to 539 million cubic feet in 2021. As such, the company’s gas output in the country rose by 24.3 percent year-on-year. [One cubic foot is approximately equal to 0.0283168466 cubic meters].
Furthermore, the exploration period of the Shafag-Asiman structure in Azerbaijan has been extended for six months. It was noted that in December 2022, bp and State Oil Company (SOCAR) signed a protocol to extend the Shafag-Asiman exploration period for six months until the end of June 2023 to allow completion of the seismic data re-processing study.
Moreover, it became known this week that Azerbaijan's population purchased motor gasoline and diesel fuel for a total of 408.7 million manat ($240.4 million) from January through February 2023, which is 7.7 percent more compared to the same period of the previous year.
Also, it was noted this week that Azerbaijan's oil and condensate production from January through February 2023 amounted to 5.1 million tons. The output from Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) totaled 3.1 million tons, while Shah Deniz production accounted for 0.7 million tons. Oil production by the SOCAR amounted to 1.3 million tons. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan's oil refining over the first two months of the current year amounted to 1.1 million tons (51,000 tons up year-on-year). In the same period, 8 billion cubic meters of natural gas were produced in Azerbaijan, which is 4 percent or 319 million cubic meters more than in the same period in 2022.
Of the total gas produced, 1.9 billion cubic meters were exported to Europe; to Türkiye - 1.7 billion, to Georgia - 0.7 billion cubic meters.
In addition, the South Caucasus Pipeline (SCP), or Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum, has transported more than 3.601 billion cubic meters of gas from January through February 2023, as compared to 3.270 billion cubic meters in the same period in 2022.
As such, volume of gas supplies via SCP rose by 10.1 percent year-on-year. It accounted for 45.8 percent of gas transported via Azerbaijan’s main gas pipelines from January through February 2023, compared to 46.9 percent in the same period in 2022.
In total, Azerbaijan’s main gas pipelines have transported around 7.861 billion cubic meters from January through February 2023, as compared to 6.975 billion cubic meters in the first two months of 2022, showing a 12.7 percent growth.
Furthermore, the volume of transit oil transportation via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline stood at 626,700 tons from January through February 2023, as compared to 800,900 tons in the same period in 2022.
During the reporting period, BTC transported over 4.629 million tons of oil, which accounts for 76.5 percent of the total 6.048 million tons of oil pumped via Azerbaijan’s main oil pipelines, as compared to 4.277 million tons or 76.7 percent of 5.575 million tons of oil transported from January through February 2022.
Furthermore, it was noted that the test shipment of crude oil transportation from Kazakhstan to Azerbaijan involves transporting the crude oil by rail from Atyrau to Aktau, and then by tanker to Baku in Azerbaijan. As of March 14, the rail shipment has been completed, and the tanker shipment from Aktau is expected to take place on March 15-16.
Japan’s INPEX company said it views the Caspian Pipeline Consortium pipeline infrastructure to be the primary method of shipment for Kashagan crude oil, both in terms of economics and security.
KazTransOil, a national oil transporter in Kazakhstan, plans to make a test shipment of 7,000 tons of oil from the Kashagan field for export in the Aktau Port for further delivery to Baku Port. The shipper of Kashagan oil is INPEX North Caspian Sea, Ltd.
In addition, Azerbaijan's electricity production from January through February 2023 amounted to 5.176 billion kW/h. The country's electricity volume increased by 5.8 percent, or 282.3 million kW/h, year-on-year. Exports accounted for over 3 billion kWh of electricity, while imports amounted to 137.1 million kWh.
Moreover, the International Energy Agency (IEA) expects Azerbaijan’s oil production to stand at 0.67 million barrels per day in 2023, remaining unchanged from 2022. The quarterly oil output in the country is forecast as follows: 0.65 mb/d in Q1, 0.66 mb/d in Q2 and 0.67 mb/d in Q3. No data is available for Q4.
As of the end of 2022, oil production in Azerbaijan amounted to 32.6 million tons (together with condensate). Exports accounted for over 26 million tons of oil, 4 percent, or about 1.09 million tons less than in 2021.
A total of 33.4 million tons of oil is planned to be produced in Azerbaijan this year.
Also, it became known that the Masdar company (UAE) plans to implement a 1 GW onshore wind project by 2026, a 2 GW offshore wind project, and a green hydrogen project by 2033, and further expand the use of solar, onshore, and offshore wind by 2037.
In 2022, Masdar and the Ministry of Energy of Azerbaijan signed an agreement on the development and investment in renewable energy sources. Also in 2022, the parties signed an implementation agreement that covers a number of offshore wind energy projects and green hydrogen production.
In addition, Masdar also signed an agreement with SOCAR to explore the potential for electrification of their offshore oil and gas facilities in the Caspian Sea using offshore wind power.
Furthermore, it was noted that the basic designs of the Ionian Adriatic Pipeline’s (IAP) Albanian and Montenegrin sections have been completed. It was mentioned that the Croatian sections of IAP are at a high level of preparedness, which has been largely enabled by the means of the EU funds such as the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF). Namely, for some Croatian sections even building permits have already been obtained while for the Albanian and Montenegrin sections basic designs have been completed.
Ionian Adriatic Pipeline can be connected to the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) to transport gas to many countries in South-East Europe.
The capacity of the pipeline will amount to five billion cubic meters of gas per year.