BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 15. About 684.5 million tons of oil (including gas condensate) and 540 billion cubic meters of gas have been produced from the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) and Shah Deniz fields since production began, according to data as of October 1 of this year.
This was announced in a statement published by the Azerbaijani Ministry of Energy.
According to the data, 629.5 million tons of oil and 254.7 billion cubic meters of gas were produced from ACG, while nearly 55 million tons of condensate and 285.3 billion cubic meters of gas were produced from Shah Deniz. During this period, 682.5 million tons of oil and 206.4 billion cubic meters of gas were exported.
On September 20, 1994, a 30-year agreement on the joint development and production sharing of the ACG fields was signed, involving 11 international oil companies from seven countries. Initially, the target was to produce 500 million tons of oil from the ACG fields.
On September 14, 2017, the agreement on the ACG fields was amended and a new production sharing agreement was signed. Under the amended agreement, the development period for the ACG field was extended until the end of 2050. At the same time, SOCAR’s participating interest increased from 11.65% to 25%, while Azerbaijan’s share of profit oil was set at 75%.
On April 19, 2019, the final investment decision for the Azeri Central East (ACE) project was reached. The first oil from the ACE platform was produced on April 16, 2024. The project aims to produce 300 million barrels of oil over its operational lifespan.
An agreement on the production of non-associated natural gas from the ACG field was signed on September 20, 2024. Production of non-associated natural gas at ACG commenced on June 1, 2026.
The participating interests in the ACG field are currently held as follows: SOCAR (35.30%), bp (30.37%), MOL Group (9.57%), INPEX (9.31%), ExxonMobil (6.79%), TPAO (5.73%) and ONGC Videsh (2.92%).
Preparations are underway for a new phase in the development of the ACG field. During Baku Energy Week, bp’s Regional President for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Türkiye, Gio Cristofoli, told reporters that production from a newly discovered oil accumulation in the deeper layers of the ACG field was expected to begin in September 2026.
He noted that the company had commenced drilling a production well to determine the volume of the newly discovered oil reserves.
Cristofoli explained that although the potential for oil in the area had previously been known, the exact volume of the reserves remained uncertain. The well was intended to initiate production from the oil accumulation and establish more precise figures regarding its scale and potential.
The data obtained from the well is expected to play an important role in shaping the future development strategy for the field. The current status of production from the new oil accumulation has not been confirmed in the information provided.
The Shah Deniz field is located on the deep-water shelf of the Caspian Sea, 70 kilometers southeast of Baku, and covers an area of more than 140 square kilometers. Discovered in 1999, the field’s reserves were initially estimated at approximately 1 trillion cubic meters of gas and 2 billion barrels of condensate.
The development of the field has proceeded in stages. The final investment decision for the first stage was made in 2003, and commercial production began in 2006. Subsequently, the Shah Deniz 2 project was approved in 2013, with production starting in 2018.
The project is now advancing to its next phase, the compression project. Valued at $2.9 billion, it aims to increase the recovery of low-pressure gas reserves and is expected to enable the production of an additional 50 billion cubic meters of gas.
The Shah Deniz project has also contributed to the development of local industrial capacity and a skilled workforce in Azerbaijan. Thousands of jobs have been created, and local construction and service companies have been integrated into international energy projects.
According to bp, the existing infrastructure at Shah Deniz has a production capacity of approximately 76.8 million standard cubic meters of gas per day, or about 28 billion cubic meters per year.
Participating interests in the Shah Deniz project are distributed as follows: bp (operator), 29.99%; Lukoil, 19.99%; TPAO, 19%; SGC, 16.02%; NICO, 10%; and MVM, 5%.
