Azeri Q1 Gas Output Rises 36%
Azerbaijan produced and sold a lot more gas in Q1 2019, thanks to Shah Deniz-2 (SD 2)coming on line mid-2018. Output rose by 36% year-on-year to above 6bn m3 in the quarter, the statistics committee reported April 16.
Sources at BP and state producer Socar told NGW that 65.5% of production came from BP-led SD 1&2.
Azerbaijan started SD2 production in a restricted amount on June 30 2018 but it has been increasing gradually and next year it will reach plateau of 16bn m3/yr. SD2 had delivered about 1.4bn m3 gas to Turkey by March 31.
Another BP-led project, Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli oil block accounted for 11.4% of Azerbaijan’s sale gas production in Q1. The rest came from fields operated by state-run Socar, although they decreased production slightly to 1.56bn m3.
This will change when the Umid field, with 0.9bn m3/yr capacity, starts up. Azerbaijan exported 3.161bn m3 in Q1 during January-March, which indicates a 27% growth year-on-year.
Turkey imported 2.1bn m3 Azeri gas in 1Q2019 and the rest went to Georgia, including 105mn m3 as transit fee. Azerbaijan exports gas to Turkey through Georgia, which takes 5% of the export volume.