SOCAR to produce 7.2 million tons of oil in 2020

By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) will produce 7.2 million tons of oil, including condensate in 2020 in line with OPEC+ deal’s obligations to reduce oil production, local media reported with reference to the company’s Deputy Head of Public Relations Ibrahim Ahmadov.

Moreover, the production of oil with condensate this year will amount to about 34.5 million tons of oil taking into account the obligations under OPEC+ agreement. Some 37.5 million tons of oil with condensate were produced in Azerbaijan in 2019, out of which SOCAR accounts for 7.6 million.

SOCAR’s oil production was 4.8 million tons during the period of January- August 2020 with the company’s oil exports amounting to 0.8 million tons. In addition, SOCAR has produced 4.9 billion cubic meters of gas during the reporting period.

It should be noted that in April 2020, OPEC and non-OPEC countries entered into agreement on reduction of daily oil production by 9.7 million barrels in May-June and 164,000 barrels for Azerbaijan.

According to the “Declaration on Cooperation”, Azerbaijan produced 718,000 barrels of crude oil per day in October 2018, while in May-July 2020, the country had to maintain the average daily production of crude oil at 554,000 barrels.

On July 31, the first phase of the OPEC+ agreement of April 12 to reduce daily oil production by 9.7 million barrels was completed.

In the second phase of the agreement, covering the period from August 1 to December 31, the daily production of crude oil in OPEC+ countries will be reduced by 7.7 million barrels, which is 18 percent less than in October 2018.

During this period, Azerbaijan must reduce daily crude production by 131,000 barrels and keep it at 587,000 barrels. Thus, during this period Azerbaijan's restrictions on daily production of crude oil will be reduced by 33,000 barrels compared to the previous three months.