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Azerbaijan agrees to freeze oil production at "certain level"

Xinhua, September 23, 2016 Adjust font size:

Azerbaijan agrees to freeze oil production "at a certain level" if oil producing countries make such a decision to limit output at an informal session scheduled for next week in Algiers, the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) said here on Thursday.

Azerbaijan expressed its position on this issue before the April meeting of OPEC members with non-OPEC producers and it agreed to oil output freeze, SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev told local reporters.

"Azerbaijan's minister of energy Natig Aliyev will represent Azerbaijan at the upcoming informal meeting in Algeria," he said.

He said that "oil prices depend on U.S. shale-oil companies and U.S. banks rather than on OPEC."

In March, Abdullayev told local media that that Azerbaijan this year planned to freeze oil production at the 2015 level and that all projects envisaging the increase of production volumes have already been suspended in the country.

Last year, Azerbaijan produced 41.6 million tons of oil against the forecast of 40.7 million tons, and exported 38.1 million tons of oil.

The main oil output in Azerbaijan comes from Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli field.

Exports of hydrocarbons constitute up to three quarters of Azerbaijan's revenues, making the Caucasus country's economy highly dependent on global energy prices.

An informal meeting of OPEC member countries is scheduled to take place on the sidelines of the International Energy Forum in Algeria on Sept. 26-28.

OPEC Secretary-General Mohammed Barkindo recently said the meeting of OPEC members and non-OPEC producers in Algiers this month would be an informal meeting for consultations and not for decision making.

Several OPEC producers have called for an output freeze to rein in the glut, which arose as supplies from high-cost producers such as the United States soared. A price collapse in the past two years has hit the revenues of major producers.

The price of Brent crude, which sets the international oil benchmark, was up 0.95 cents at 47.57 U.S. dollars a barrel on Thursday. Endit