SOFAZ earnings from major oil fields decline amid global market challenges

From January to October 2024, the State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) earned $416.174 million from the Shah Deniz gas condensate field, derived from the sale of gas and condensate.

This represents a 2.8-fold decrease compared to the same period last year, SOFAZ told Caliber.Az.

SOFAZ reported that the revenue from condensate sales alone for the Shah Deniz field amounted to $115.409 million from January 1 to November 1, 2024, which is a 2.2-fold decline from 2023.

The Shah Deniz development agreement was signed in Baku on June 4, 1996, and ratified by Azerbaijan's Milli Majlis on October 17 of the same year. The partners in the project currently include BP (operator, 29.99%), LUKOIL (19.99%), TPAO (19%), NICO (10%), Cenub Qaz Dehlizi CJSC (16.02%), and MVM (5%).

In the same period, SOFAZ’s revenues from the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) oil fields amounted to $5,334.2 million, reflecting a 9.1% decrease compared to the same period in 2023, when revenues were $5,865.8 million.

The Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) fields, one of the largest offshore oil complexes in the world, are located in the Caspian Sea off Azerbaijan’s coast. Comprising the Azeri, Chirag, and Guneshli fields, the ACG project has been a cornerstone of Azerbaijan’s oil industry, significantly contributing to the country’s oil production and exports. The development of the ACG fields began in the 1990s and is managed by the Azerbaijan International Operating Company (AIOC), a consortium of major international oil companies including bp, MOL, ITOCHU and ExxonMobil.

Oil from these fields is transported via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, a vital infrastructure project connecting the Caspian Sea to international markets.

By Tamilla Hasanova