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Каспинфо январь 2001 |
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Название: Материалы на английском Главные Пункты: * Электронные адреса и описания некоторых природоохранных организаций/ресурсов - Wildlife Conservation Society, Natural Resources Defense Council, SeaWeb. * Нурсултан Назарбаев торопит консорциум ОКИОК с выбором оператора месторождений Восточного Кашагана. * ЕБРР выступит координатором проекта Сахалин-2. * У Казахстана два способа доставлять свою нефть на международные рынки - с использованием существующих мощностей России, Казахстана и Азербайджана и собственного порта Актау (краткосрочные проекты) и с использованием транскаспийской магистрали и территорий Азербайджана и Грузии (долгосрочные проекты). особо подчеркивается, каждого из этих вариантов реализуется независимо. *В 2001 г. транзитом через Россию пройдет 17,3 млн. т. казахской нефти. * ГНКАР и ЛУКойл подписали соглашение о реабилитации, эксплуатации и развитии азербайджанских месторождений Зык и Говсаны. * В 2001 г. Иран увеличит импорт туркменского газа до 13 млрд. куб. м./год. * За период с января по октябрь 2000 г. в Азербайджане добыто более 12.8 млн.т. нефти. * И другие сообщения. (23.01.2001) Полный Текст Материалы на английском МАТЕРИАЛЫ НА АНГЛИЙСКОМ ***** Organizations The Wildlife Conservation Society, headquartered at New York's Bronx Zoo, is dedicated to being the most effective conservation organization, protecting and promoting a world rich in wildlife and wilderness. WCS has been on the front lines of wildlife and habitat conservation since its founding in 1895. To learn more about WCS visit www.wcs.org. The Natural Resources Defense Council is a national, non-profit organization of scientists, lawyers and environmental specialists dedicated to protecting public health and the environment. Founded in 1970, NRDC has more than 400,000 members nationwide, served from offices in New York, Washington, Los Angeles and San Francisco. More information is available through NRDC's Web site at www.nrdc.org. SeaWeb is a multimedia public education effort designed to raise awareness of the world's oceans and the life within. SeaWeb's outreach is anchored in science, with the goal of making ocean protection a high environmental priority in the United States and around the world. For more information visit www.seaweb.org ***** Kazakh President urges OKIOC to choose operator Thu Jan 18 15:42:17 2001 GMT ASTANA, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev on Thursday urged OKIOC, a consortium exploring what may be the largest oilfield found anywhere in the last 30 years, to choose a single operator for the project without delay. The Offshore Kazakhstan International Operating Company is exploring the Kashagan field in the Kazakh sector of the Caspian Sea. Although OKIOC is reticent about its possible reserves, some estimates put them as high as 30 billion barrels or more. Nazarbayev says the reserves are so huge they may lift Kazakh crude output to eight million barrels per day -- comparable to Saudi Arabia -- by 2015, from some 615,000 barrels per day now. But the nine-member OKIOC has yet to select a single operator for when it moves into the production phase, a move which would require approval by 70 percent of the consortium's votes. "For Kazakhstan there's nothing political about this, we're looking purely pragmatically at this issue and we ask all members of OKIOC not to delay on choosing an operator," Nazarbayev told reporters in the capital, Astana. "Delaying the decision means delaying the first oil, and if that doesn't go ahead we may have to look at the question of the viability of the contract." Last year the Kazakh foreign ministry said a preliminary vote on the operatorship was due in mid-December 2000, to find the top two contenders, with a final vote to choose between these two due this month. "Kazakhstan will allow the members of OKIOC themselves to elect an operator, which they haven't been able to do so far because whover is elected must have 70 percent of the vote. But whover is chosen, we will put five tasks before them," Nazarbayev said. These include guaranteeing to produce the first oil from Kashagan by 2005; and taking on responsibility for transporting and selling the huge volumes of natural gas expected to be found at the site. Nazarbayev's third task was for the operator to involve Kazakh enterprises in the production, and to give orders to Kazakh plants. Fourth, the operator must share its work with national oil and gas company Kazakhoil; and fifth, it must respect and maintain the sensitive ecology of the Caspian Sea. "To meet these demands the operator must have the necessary economic, financial and technological might," Nazarbayev added. France's TotalFinaElf (TOTF.PA) has already stated publicly that it wanted to take on the operatorship of the field. OKIOC unites Phillips Petroleum , ExxonMobil , Agip (ENI.MI), BG plc (BG.L), Royal Dutch/Shell (RD.AS) (SHEL.L), BP Amoco, Japan's Inpex, TotalFinaElf, and Norway's Statoil [STAT.UL]. Copyright © 2000 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or ***** EBRD eyes Sakhalin oil plan By Gillian Tett in Tokyo Published: January 10 2001 The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is considering co-ordinating a $10bn project in the Russian far east to exploit oil and gas reserves near the island of Sakhalin. Diplomats and bank officials said that the project, the second energy scheme in Sakhalin, is at an early stage. More talks between Russia, Japan and the EBRD are expected. It would be the biggest project the EBRD has helped co-ordinate, and could provide an important source of natural gas for Asia. Jean Lemierre, EBRD president told the FT in Tokyo: "Japan would like us to be involved [to help co-ordinate the project]. We don't have many projects in the Russian far east, and so we are interested." The Japanese government would probably be another investor, because the country is keen to develop new energy sources. The main companies involved are Shell, the Anglo-Dutch group, and Mitsui and Mitsubishi, the Japanese companies. The Piltun-Astokhskoe and Lunskoe oil and gas fields off Sakhalin are among Russia's most important, with estimated reserves of at least 378m barrels of oil and 18,000bn cu ft of gas. Mr Lemierre said the project could not proceed without the agreement of Japan and Russia. The two have difficult relations because Japan still claims four Russian-held islands south of Sakhalin. Both Russia and Japan appear cautiously willing to press ahead. "Japan would like to use the gas, and other countries such as Korea are interested too," said Kaname Nakano, for the Japanese Bank for International Co-operation, which is expected to help finance the project. Additional reporting by Nobuko Juji To find out more about the international campaign to reform Export Credit Agencies (ECAs), please see www.eca-watch.org. To view the ECA-Watch archives or to see a directory of ECA-Watch members, visit the topica topica website at http://www.topica.com/lists/eca-watch. Follow the simple registration instructions if you are not yet registered. ***** Two Options in Supplying Kazakh Oil to World Market. ASTANA (Interfax). Kazakhstan is considering two options for possible participation in the implementation of a project to build a Trans-Caspian Transport System, with access to the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan (Turkey). According to information received by Interfax, Kazakh Deputy Energy, Industry and Trade Minister Nurlan Kapparov said in a letter to the government that the first option is a "short-term solution" involving the use of the main infrastructures in Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Russia to export oil from Aktau (a port on the Caspian Sea). The second "long-term" option involves the use of a totally new pipeline system from Western Kazakhstan to Turkey through the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan and Georgia. The letter stressed that "the short-term and long-term solutions are individual projects." These do not use a common infrastructure and are not interconnected. In addition, the long-term solution will be implemented after the final slate of expansion of the existing systems is completed. According to the business plan for the Trans-Caspian Transport System, prepared by Chevron, Mobil, Shell, KazakhOil and KazTransOil, the length of the pipeline from Tengiz in western Kazakhstan to Ceyhan will amount to 2,325 kilometers and will cost $3.613 billion, with a pipe diameter of from 800 mm to 1,067 mm. The short-term option would provide a transportation capacity of 12 million tones of oil per annum and the long-term solution would provide a capacity of 50 million tones. The letter also contained details of the Baku-Ceyhan project provided by the Turkish company Botas, The cost of the project is estimated at $2.3 billion (of which $1.3 billion will be guaranteed by the Turkish government). The pipeline will stretch 1,730 kilometers (468 kilometers through Azerbaijan, 225 kilometers through Georgia and 1,037 kilometers through Turkey) and will have a capacity of 50 million tones of oil per annum - 30 million tones from Azerbaijan and 20 million tones from Kazakhstan. The tariff to transport oil along the pipeline will be $2.58 per barrel and it is planned to launch the pipeline in 2004. At the same lime the letter noted that the Trans-Caspian Transport System would be economically and technically possible only if a number of conditions are met. These include confirmation of the resource base in the Kazakh, Azerbaijani and Turkmenistani sectors of the Caspian; preparation of a production forecast to exceed the capacity of the current transport system by not less than 20 million tones per annum; the offering of significant tax relief (exemption from VAT and a reduction in the other main taxes); the signing of a framework agreement between the relevant countries, to set up a unified legislative and tax regime for the implementation of the project; and the unconditional financing by all participants in the project and the distribution of partici-pation in proportion to the amount of capital invested. ***** Kazakhstan toTransit Oil Through Russia ALMATY (Interfax). Kazakhstan will transit 17.3 million tones of oil through Russian territory in 2001. This is dealt with in a protocol to a Kazakh-Russian intergovernmental agreement, which was signed in Moscow at the end of December. According to the document, the text of which has been made available to Interfax, Kazakhstan will export 10.8 million tones of oil to outside the CIS and 5 million tones to the CIS through Russian territory and another 1.5 million tones will be exported using a substitution scheme. The protocol states that Kazakhstan will export 7.9 million tones of oil to Odessa and another 600,000 tones to Germany, using the Atyrau-Samara pipeline. A total of 2.3 million tones of oil will be exported outside the CIS along the Makhachkala-Tikhoretsk-Novorossiisk pipeline. Oil will he transported to Russia along the pipeline system by 22 companies, including KazakhOil, Mang-istaumunaigaz and the joint ventures Tengizchevroil and Hurricane Kumkol Munai. According to the document, Kazakhstan transited 14 million tones of oil through Russia in 1999. SHNOS Shareholders Meeting ALMATY (Interfax). Shymkentnefteorgsintez (SHNOS), formerly the Chimkent Oil Refinery in south Kazakhstan, is to hold an extraordinary shareholders' meeting on January 26, an announcement from SHNOS published in the official press reports. At the meeting it is planned to confirm the company's new charter, reeled the board of directors and discuss other issues. In particular, is planned to consider the issue of the resignation of former SHNOS CEO Nurlan Bizakov in August last year. Shareholders registered in the simple named shares register as of December 23, 2000 are eligible to participate in the meeting. As reported earlier, Bizakov handed in his resignation voluntarily in August but later filed a suit with the Astana Regional Court, which decided that he should be reinstated to his former or an equal position. Legal wrangling on this issue is currently underway in Astana and Chimkent. The announcement from SHNOS stated that if a quorum is not reached at the meeting, a repeat shareholders' meeting will be held in Atmaty on January 29. SHNOS has the design capacity to refine 6 million - 7 million tones of erode per annum. In recent years the oil refinery annually refined on average 3.5 million tones of oil. Canadian Hurricane Hydrocarbons Ltd. (HHL) owns 88% of SHNOS. Another HHL subsidiary - Hurricane Kumkol Munai - is developing the Kumkol oil and gas deposit in the south of Kazakhstan and supplies SHNOS with crude. ***** SOCAR, Lukoil Sing Contract On Govsany, ZYK Deposits BAKU (Interfax). The State Oil Company of the Azerbaijani Republic (SOCAR) and Russian oil major Lukoil have signed an agreement on the rehabilitation, exploration and development of the Zyk and Govsany oil deposits in Azerbaijan and on the distribution of production at these deposits, which are located in the south-east of the Apsheron peninsula. The first stage of work on this project involves the rehabilitation of the existing well fund and the modernization of infrastructure at the deposits, the press release said. After the drilling of two assessment wells, a program will be drawn up for the rehabilitation and future development of the deposits. Total investment in the initial phase will amount to over $200 million. Investment in the exploration area will be confirmed after a minimum program of exploration work has been implemented. The main potential to increase recoverable reserves and production is tied to the development of new areas, including in the offshore section of the Govsany deposit. As reported earlier, the Zyk/Govsany project is oriented towards the Azerbaijani domestic market: Lukoil will process crude from the project at Baku refineries and the oil products produced will be sold through its filling stations, which will increase from five at present to 20. Residual recoverable reserves at the deposits amount to 25 million tones. The total contract area covers 128 square kilometers, including the rehabilitation area of 52 square kilometers. Productive oil horizons lie at a depth of 3,700 meters - 4,300 meters. At the moment there are 15 wells in operation at the deposits, producing about 250 tones of oil per day. ***** Kaztranssaz to Sell Shares ALMATY. In line with a Kazakh government resolution, KazTransGaz is to sell 84% of shares in Almaty Power Consolidated (APC) to the Almaty administration for $50 million, director of the KazTransGaz energy project department Bakhytzhan Dzhaksaliyev told Interfax. The remaining shares in the Almaty power company have been held "by foreign corporate shareholders, with no relation to Kazakhstan" since 1997, he said. Despite the passing of a government resolution on the sale, the deal has not yet been implemented, Dzhaksaliyev stressed. The deal will be considered completed if KazTransGaz is satisfied with conditions and with a mechanism for the administration to pay for the deal, he said. According to the government resolution, the Almaty administration should pay for the shares within three years. However a mechanism for the payments and a source of the funds have not yet been decided. In addition, the resolution notes that the administration should "supply KazTransGaz with sufficient guarantees that it will meet its obligations." These obligations include the repayment by KazTransGaz of $100 million on a government guaranteed credit for energy and gas projects, bought last year from Belgian Tractebel, to ING Barings N.V, London Branch. The Kazakh State Property and Privatization Committee, the Finance Ministry and also the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry should carry out the sale of these shares to the Almaty administration in accordance with the law and the government resolution. ***** Uzbeks and Kyrgyz Agree Over Gas TASHKENT (Uzreport), Kyrgyzstan's Foreign Trade and Industry Minister Escnkul Omuraliyev said that Uzbekistan had agreed to provide supplies of natural gas next year within the framework of a wider bilateral agreement on water resources and energy. Omuraliyev said that Uzbekistan had agreed to send 1.225 bin. cubic meters of gas to Kyrgyzstan in 2001. Some 700 min. cubic meters of this will be sent to heating and power plants in the capital city. he said, while the remaining 525 min. cubic meters will he reserved for private consumers. The cost of the gas has been set at $ 42 per 1,000 cubic meters, he stated, and Kyrgyzstan has agreed to pay 50 % of its gas hill in cash and 50 % in kind, with commodities. The minister noted that the deal would also serve to restructure Bishkek's debt for previous deliveries of Uzbek gas, which currently stands at about $ 2 million. Omuraliyev further stated that the agreement provided for Uzbekistan to send some 200,000 tons of refined petroleum products to Kyrgyzstan in 2001. Kyrgyz power plants will send 2.2 bin kWh of electricity to Uzbekistan in 2001 as payment for the supplies of gas and fuels, he said. Omuraliyev said that all of these provisions were included in the agreement signed on December 6 by himself and Uzbekistan's First Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Yunusov. ***** IRAN TO INCREASE TURKMEN GAS IMPORT ASHGABAT(lnterfax). Iran will increase natural gas imports from Turkmenistan to 13 billion cubic meters a year. The government decided to import more gas from Turkmenistan due to growing natural gas consumption by industry. Deputy Oil Industry Minister Hamadulla Mohammed Nadzhad said. Iran currently imports 8 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Turkmenistan, which covers about 85 of its natural gas needs, he said. GBOC starts drilling new well at Ninotsmindsky deposit Tbilisi. Georgian-British Oil Company (GBOC) began work on drilling a new gas well at Ninotsmindsky gas deposit in Georgia, which has gas reserves of not less than 20 billion cubic meters, an Interfax correspondent reports. GBOC drilled the first gas well at the Ninotsmindsky gas deposit, which is located to the north east of Tbilisi, in August 1999. After that, the deposit, which was been considered to be an oil deposit, received the status of a gas deposit also. According to Canargo Energy President David Robson (Canargo Energy is Gruzneft's partner in GBOC), in 2000 the company produced 65,000 tonnes of oil and 73 million cubic meters of gas. KAZAKHSTAN HOLDS TENDER ON OIL, GAS TRANSPORTATION PROJECT ALMATY (Interfax). Kazakhstan is holding a tender in the framework of a TACIS program for the right to carry out a project of supporting the oil and gas transportation sector, coordinator of TACIS projects in energy, transport and communications Aliya Baidebekova has told Interfax. The tender involves several European consortiums that include Kazakh companies, she said. The EUR 2 million project is expected to be launched in the spring and completed in two years. ***** TURKMENISTAN DOUBLES GAS PRODUCTION ASHGABAT (Interfax). Turkmenistan produced 47 billion cubic meters of natural gas in 2000, which was up 100% from 22.8 billion cubic meters in 1999. According to the Turkmenistani Ministry for the Oil Industry and Mineral Resources, exports to the CIS last year amounted to about 30 billion cubic meters of gas, compared with 8.5 billion cubic meters in 1999. Gazprom bought 20 billion cubic meters of Turkmenistani gas in 2000; Neftegaz-Ukraine - 3 billion cubic meters; and ITERA - 6.2 billion cubic meters. In addition, Turkmenistani gas is also supplied to northern provinces in Iran, along the Korpeje-Kurt-Kui pipeline, which has a capacity of 8 bcm per annum. Turkmenistan plans to increase production of natural gas to 70 billion cubic meters in 2001 and to increase exports to the CIS and beyond to 50 billion cubic meters, according to the web site. "The Times of Central Asia", Newspaper January 18, 2001 ***** Kazakh OKIOC confident but still no single operator Mon Jan 22 15:34:31 2001 GMT ATYRAU, Kazakhstan, Jan 22 (Reuters) - The consortium exploring what may be the world's largest oil find in the last 30 years has not yet decided who will operate it, despite calls by Kazakhstan's president to do so, officials said on Monday. But the consortium said it was confident of its future after announcing its first oil discovery last year. Offshore Kazakhstan International Operating Company (OKIOC) is developing the vast Kashagan field in the Caspian Sea off Kazakhstan, where some estimates put total crude reserves at 30 billion barrels or higher. But the nine-member group is still exploring. It has yet to decide if it has found commercial volumes of oil, and so is years away from producing if it decides to proceed. Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev called last week on OKIOC to elect one of its members as operator without delay, and said Kazakhstan may have to review the viability of the field's contract if it did not do so. But Paul Jeffrey, OKIOC manager, told a public briefing in Kazakhstan's oil capital Atyrau that the consortium was merely exploring on behalf of its shareholders and had no influence on the operatorship. "OKIOC is not directly involved in this," he said. "We know that these negotiations are still ongoing. We urge our shareholders to make a speedy decision on this." The consortium announced the discovery of oil at its first test well, Kashagan East 1, last July. It is now completing reservoir activities at its second test site, Kashagan West 1, where work is scheduled to end in May or June. OKIOC's sole existing drilling rig, Sunkar, will then move immediately to Kashagan East 2, near the site of the proven test well, and start appraisal work. "The fact that we found oil and are able to plan for the appraisal phase of the development does indicate confidence in the future prospects of the Kashagan field," a senior OKIOC official told Reuters. OKIOC has so far been extremely reluctant to speculate on the size of Kashagan's reserves. But the mood in Atyrau, which is modernising rapidly, suggests they are big. And Nazarbayev, who said last year that Kazakhstan would be producing eight million barrels per day of crude, rivalling Saudi Arabia, by 2015, from just 615,000 bpd now, believes in the field's future. ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS While few doubt the economic benefits that Kazakhstan will gain from oil from Kashagan and two other huge finds, Tengiz and Karachaganak, there are still widespread environmental fears over drilling in the Caspian. Given the environmental degradation suffered by the republic in Soviet times when it was used for nuclear testing, experimental water schemes which have caused the Aral Sea to all but disappear, and scarred by open-cast mining, this seems hardly surprising. As a result, OKIOC and other firms in Kazakhstan work under some of the world's toughest environmental laws. "Regulations in Kazakhstan are far more rigid than applied in many other parts of the world, for example the UK," OKIOC head ecologist Graham Johnson told the meeting. Despite this, environmental concerns were high on the agenda of the public meeting, held to involve local people with a possible impact of OKIOC's work. These concerns increased last year, when large numbers of Caspian seals died for unexplained reasons even though no oil was then produced. Not all appeared convinced on Monday when an independent sea mammal researcher said the deaths seemed to have been caused by a viral infection, and seals' blubber showed high levels of pesticides not used in the oil industry. OKIOC unites Phillips Petroleum , ExxonMobil , Agip (ENI.MI), BG plc (BG.L), Royal Dutch/Shell (RD.AS) (SHEL.L), BP Amoco, Japan's Inpex, TotalFinaElf (TOTF.PA), and Norway's Statoil [STAT.UL]. ***** Kazakhstan to Supply 1.3 Million Tones Oil to Mazeikio Nafta MOSCOW (Interfax). Kazakhstan is to supply 1.3 million tonnes of oil to the Lithuanian concern Mazeikiu Nafta in 2001. General Director of the Lithuanian concern Jim Scheel said. This agreement was reached during a recent visit by a Kazakh delegation to Lithuania, headed by Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister Daniyal Akhmetov, he said: Supplies of oil, which will be bought from Kazakhstan at world prices, will begin at the start of 2001, Scheel said. He said that Williams International Company (WIC), which manages the Lithuanian oil complex, does not rule out that Russian suppliers of oil could become shareholders in Mazeikiu Nafta. "This has been discussed within the company and this possibility is contained in a strategic agreement with the Lithuanian government." Scheel said. "However, large Russian suppliers, such as Lukoil and Yukos, have not yet made any concrete proposals. They are more interested in long-term strategic agreements." he said. It is planned that next year Mazeikiai Oil Refinery will process 8 million tonnes of oil and that the Butinge oil terminal will handle 6 million - 8 million tonnes, which is 1.2 million tonnes more than in 2000. Regarding modernization plans for Mazeikiai Oil Refinery, Scheel said that this would involve investment of $400 million. Investment in 2000 amounted to $35 million. Speaking about negotiations between Mazeikiu Nafta and Lukoil on supplies of oil, Scheel said that a few items have still to be agreed, particularly, the management structure for a joint sales company and payment of bonuses for constant supplies of oil. The last talks on these issue took place two days ago during a visit by WIC and Mazeikiu Nafta representatives to Moscow. "I am sure that all participants in the talks want to resolve these issues as quickly as possible,"-Tie said. A total of eight contracts will be signed, he said. ***** Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan Sign Deal On Joint USE of Fuel, Energy Resourcrs BISHKEK (TCA). Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan have signed an agreement in Bishkek on the joint use of fuel and energy resources, Kyrgyz Deputy Prime Minister Esengul Amuraliyev said. Under the agreement Kyrgyzstan will receive 700 million cubic meters of natural gas a year from Uzbekistan for industrial enterprises and power stations in Bishkek, Dzhalalabad, and Osh. Kyrgyzstan will also receive 525 million cubic meters of gas for the population a year. Uzbekistan will sell the natural gas at $42 per 1,000 cubic meters. Kyrgyzstan will pay half in hard currency and half in goods and materials. Uzbekistan will also supply 80.000 tonnes of fuels and lubricants and 80,000 tonnes of fuel oil for utilities, Amuraliyev said. Kyrgyzstan will supply Uzbekistan 2.2 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity and supply water for agricultural enterprises. Amuraliyev said that the agreement regulated mutual relations between the two countries in the use of fuel and energy resources for the remainder of this year and in 2001. ***** Kazakhoil May Double Oil In Republic Within Five Years ASTANA (Kazakh-Interfax). Kazakh national oil company KazakhOil may increase annual oil production at its Kazakh deposits to 9.9 million tonnes, compared with 5.5 million tonnes last year, as a result of additional investment, KazakhOil President Nurlan Balgimbayev said. Balgimbayev also noted that if the planned funds are invested production may be increased to 7.3 million tonnes per annum. Without investment, the fall in production could amount to 1.9 million tonnes per year. However, Balgimbayev did not state the amount of investment necessary. Earlier a source in KazakhOil noted that in 2000 the company would invest 7 billion tenge of its own funds in developing production, which is 20 times more than in the same period last year. Balgimbayev noted that oil prices, and consequently company revenue, have not always allowed KaxakhOil to carry out the necessary investment in full. He noted that at the end of 1998 - beginning of 1999 the world price for oil fell to $8 - $10 per barrel, which resulted in Kazakhstan halting not only construction projects, but repair projects also. At that time the situation was even further complicated by debts owned by farms for fuel supplies, as a result of which KazakhOil subsidiaries themselves owed the budget 11 billion tenge at the end of 1998. Balgimbayev noted that the current favorable prices for oil are not eternal, therefore he considers it expedient "to use this as much as possible to implement programs to restore fixed assets, increase oil production and carry out the necessary amount of drilling." ***** AZERBAIJAN PPODUCED 12,8 MLN TONES OF OIL Baku (Interfax). The State Oil Company of the Azerbaijani Republic (SOCAR) produced 8.248 million tonnes of oil and 4.614 billion cubic meters of gas in the first 11 months of the year, 0.2% above and l.6% below target respectively, the company's press service told Interfax. The Azerbaijan International Operating Company (AIOС), the operator of the Azeri-Chirag-Gyuneshli group of deposits, produced 584.3 million cubic meters of gas in the first 11 months, which was 37% under target but up 1.1 % year-on-year. In January-November the company produced 4.6 million tonnes of oil, the AIOC press service said. Consequently, in January-October 2000 Azerbaijan produced over 12.8 million tonnes of oil. |