Natig Aliyev: Azerbaijan can cut oil output even more if other producers decide to shrink production

Baku. 25 January. REPORT.AZ/ Azerbaijan is planning to produce more gas and less oil this year. 

Azerbaijani Energy Minister Natiq Aliyev has told in his interview to Natrural Gas World.

According to him, the country plans to increase gross gas output by 0.8% to 29.561 bln m3 in 2017.

The minister said that it is expected more than 10 bln m3 of gas to be produced from "Shah Deniz -1" in 2017, compared to 9.9bn m3 last year.

Aliyev said that his country is fully committed to its obligations under the oil deal and has reduced output by 35,000 b/d since January 1. He said that the country’s total oil production was 789,000 b/d during January 1-20 in the line with this pledge. "That compares with its November production of 830,000 b/d, while OPEC had estimated its figure for October at 865,000 b/d", he added.

He stated that the oil price in January increased by $25/b year-on-year and this favours all producers. Azerbaijan can cut oil output even more if other producers decide to shrink the production level to support prices, he said.

Azerbaijan produced 41 mln metric tons of crude oil in 2016, about 1.5% less than the previous year. The ACG field supplies 75.6% of the country’s total output and its production is expected to decrease by 20,000 b/d in 2017.