BP-led Azeri venture cuts oil output to 5-year low

The BP-led Azerbaijan International Operating Company (AIOC) cut its oil output by 11.6 percent in the first six months of 2012 to a 5-year low reflecting work being done to help extend the lifespan of the oilfields.
AIOC, a consortium of petroleum companies, operates the Azeri, Chirag and Guneshli (ACG) oilfields in the Azeri sector of the Caspian Sea as well as the country's huge Shah Deniz gas field.
"We are carrying out works on production optimisation and extending the lifetime of the field's output plateau," BP-Azerbaijan spokeswoman Tamam Bayatly said.
ACG accounts for the lion's share of Azeri production and is the main source of crude for a pipeline which runs via Georgia to the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan in Turkey.
Output at the ACG oilfields declined to a level not seen since 2007, producing 16.8 million tonnes or 682,154 barrels per day (bpd) in January-June compared to 19.0 million tonnes a year earlier.
The production decline followed the pattern of the previous year, when overall oil and gas condensate output in Azerbaijan fell almost 11 percent to around 900,000 bpd.
Before 2011 crude production at the ACG fields had been on a steady rise.
Local officials attributed the output fall at the project, which has total reserves of over 6.5 billion barrels, to repair work on some drilling platforms and refineries.
The country expects its oil output to rise in 2013 thanks to the start of the next stage in ACG's development.
Gas production at the Shah Deniz gas field, with estimated reserves of 1.2 trillion cubic metres, rose to 3.36 billion cubic metres (bcm) from 3.06 bcm a year earlier, BP said.
Other shareholders in AIOC include Azeri state energy company SOCAR, Chevron, ExxonMobil and Statoil .
Source: Reuters