AIOC invests roughly $2bn under early oil project

Woodward said that production of Azeri Light oil under the project made up around 300 million barrels. «A present we produce 130,000 barrels of oil under Early Oil with exploitation expenses of some $2,50 per barrel,» Woodward pointed out.

By the end of the first quarter of 2005 the company produced Azerbaijani profit oil worth over $1bn.

He noted that the initial debit of wells in the Central Azeri field were beyond all expectations and at present production from the platform amounts to 150,000 barrels a day. «As soon as we complete the drilling program and joining of next wells to the program within several years, the production will increase up to the production capacity of the platform comprising 400,000 barrels a day,” he said.

The President of AIOC and also BP Azerbaijan regarded the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan main export oil pipeline as tremendous technical achievement. There are 8 pump stations, 3 interim stations for launching and admission of scrapers and around 100 valve stations. «A new terminal with reservoirs with the capacity of 7 million barrels and berth with the length of 2km which is condition to admit simultaneously 2 tankers with the capacity of 2 million barrels, has been built in Ceyhan,» Woodward noted.

According to Woodward, the capital expenses for BTC will make up $3.4bn, while the two third of the sum is a syndicated loan of the IFC, EBRD, and 15 commercial banks. «Following the full commissioning of the ACG and BTC, they will cover only 1-2% f the world demand for oil,” he said.

«BTC is a new source of energy resources, independent from the Near East and Russia, which will enable to ensure approximately 25% of additional demand in oil in the subsequent years. BTC opens a new energy corridor East-West from the Caspian and the Central Asia and it will enable to pass by the overloaded and ecologically vulnerable Turkish straights,” the AIOC President underlined.

Touching upon the implementation of Stage 1 of Shah-Daniz field development project and the construction of the South-Caucasus gas pipeline (SCP), Woodward noted that total expenses for offshore facilities, a terminal and SCP will amount approximately $4bn. «during the maximal production period production from Shah-Deniz will reach around 8.4 billion cu m a year, with further delivery to Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan,» Woodward noted.

«Over 10 years of more starting from 2008 Azerbaijan will lift over 1 million barrels of oil day,” Woodward underscored.

He noted that the operations would increase considerably the revenues of the Azerbaijani government. «The revenues will attain approximately $160bn at an average oil prices of $40 per barrel, and by 2010 they will exceed the current GDP rate twice,» Woodward noted.