AIOC reports on rise of oil output
The Azerbaijan International Operating Company (AIOC), a ten-member consortium developing the Azeri, Chirag, and
Gyuneshli oil fields in the Caspian Sea, produced 5.1 mm tons of oil in 2000, 300,000 tons more than in 1999. The
consortium's exports increased by 100,000 tons in 2000 to 4.9 mm tons, the AIOC said, adding that losses in transport
accounted for the difference between the production and export figures.
The consortium is currently producing from 11 exploratory wells in the Chirag field, the spokesman said. Nearly all
of AIOC's exports last year were piped from the Azerbaijani capital of Baku to the Georgian port of Supsa, on the
Black Sea. The pipeline has a total capacity of 5.7 mm tpy.
The consortium exported around 501,000 tons of crude via the northern route from Baku to the Russian Black Sea port
of Novorossisk. Of this amount, 410,000 tons belonged to the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijani Republic, or SOCAR,
while the remainder was exported by the AIOC.
SOCAR produced 9 mm tons of oil on its own account in 2000, up from 8.9 mm tons in 1999, the spokesman said. SOCAR's
offshore deposits accounted for 7.5 mm tons of its 2000 output, while onshore fields contributed the rest. AIOC
supplied SOCAR with 643.4 bn cm of gas in 2000, the same amount as in 1999, a SOCAR spokesman said. Under the AIOC's
existing production-sharing agreement, the consortium supplies all associated gas to SOCAR, an AIOC member, free of
charge.
BP is the operator of the AIOC and holds a 34.14 % stake. Other members of the consortium include Unocal with 10.05
%, Russia's LUKoil and SOCAR with 10 % each, Norway's Statoil with 8.56 %, ExxonMobil with 8 %, Turkish Petroleum
Overseas with 6.75, Devon with 4.82 %, Japan's Itochu with 3.92 %, and Amerada Hess with 3.76 %.
