Tag Archives: Azerbaijan

Utility prices rise in Azerbaijan

NOV. 28 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan’s state tariff committee which sets prices for utilities such as electricity, water and gas said that all fees would rise slightly. They said that overall inflation had pushed up prices across all sectors. The price rises are not expected to be drastic, a 2% rise in electricity prices is expected, but they will still irritate ordinary Azerbaijanis who have been dealing with a general economic slowdown for the past 2- 1/2 years.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 307, published on Dec. 2 2016)

Azerbaijan renames Grand Prix

DEC. 1 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — In a PR coup for Azerbaijan, the European Grand Prix which it staged last year will be renamed the Azerbaijani Grand Prix. The Azerbaijani authorities see sport and especially high profile events such as the Grand Prix as a way to promote the country.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 307, published on Dec. 2 2016)f

OPEC courts non-members, including Azerbaijan

NOV. 24 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan’s energy minister, Natig Aliyev, said that OPEC had asked Azerbaijan and other non-OPEC members to cut oil production in an attempt to raise prices. Azeri newspaper Respublika quoted Mr Aiyev as saying that OPEC wanted non-members to cut up to 800,000 barrels of oil per day of production, a figure that it said would eat into the vast reserves. OPEC and non-OPEC members are due to meet again in Vienna on Nov. 28 to decide on the final level of cuts to production.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 306, published on Nov. 25 2016)

Azerbaijan expects economic growth

NOV. 23 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan expects its economy to grow by 1% in 2017 and 1.5% in 2018, a draft budget from the government seen by Reuters showed. The day before, the World Bank reiterated that it expected the economy to contract by 3% this year. Azerbaijan has been particularly hard hit by falling oil prices. Its economy is particularly oil-dependent.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 306, published on Nov. 25 2016)

Azerbaijan to privatise IBA

NOV. 24 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan will privatise the International Bank of Azerbaijan, the country’s largest lender, in the first half of 2017, Rufat Aslanli, chairman of Azerbaijan’s financial supervisory agency, said. Azerbaijan’s ministry of finance owns 54.9% and the government- owned credit company Aqrar Kredit owns 27% in IBA. IBA accounts for around 60% of all lending in Azerbaijan.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 306, published on Nov. 25 2016)

Total signs deal to produce gas at Azerbaijan’s Abershon

NOV. 21 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — French energy company Total signed an agreement to develop the first phase of the Absheron gas and condensate field in Azerbaijan, a major boost for the country’s oil and gas sector, although it also said that production levels would be far lower than originally projected.

Total discovered Absheron in 2011 and owns a 40% stake in the project. Other shareholders include state- owned SOCAR (40%) and ENGIE, a French utility company (20%).

The company had said the field, off the Absheron peninsula, around 60km from Baku, would produce 5b cubic metres (bcm) of gas annually in the first stages and between 7 and 8 bcm at a later stage. But Total’s latest press release told a different story.

“The development involves the drilling of one well at a water depth of 450 meters. Production from this high pressure field will be around 35 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day, including a significant portion of condensate,” Total said.

This means that yearly production volume would be around 2.1 bcm, 60% smaller than originally planned.

Analysts said that the Azerbaijani government has pressured Total into producing at Abershon ahead of the original target start date, possibly forcing it to cut output targets.

“If they previously planned to produce first gas in 2022, now they talk about the beginning of 2020,” Ilham Shaban, head of the Caspian Barrel research outfit, told the Vestnik Kavkaza website.

Absheron’s gas will compensate for declining domestic production in Azerbaijan, according to Total.

“The produced gas will supply Azerbaijan’s domestic market,” the company said.

Azerbaijan’s gas production has flatlined in recent years to around 19bcm and it is poised to decline this year.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 306, published on Nov. 25 2016)

Azerbaijan-based Zenith receives payments

NOV. 21 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — An Azerbaijan-based subsidiary of Canada’s Zenith Energy said it received the first payments for its oil sales at three onshore fields it is developing with state-owned SOCAR. Zenith Aran Oil and SOCAR had signed a production sharing agreement in March. Zenith has an 80% share in the Muradkhanli, Jafarli and Zardab fields for the next 25 years. SOCAR will retain the remaining 20%. Oil from these fields is sold internationally at the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. On the same day, British investment company Gunsynd invested £100,000 ($125,000) in Zenith Energy, as part of a £500,000 fundraising effort.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 306, published on Nov. 25 2016)

Oil output drops in Azerbaijan

NOV. 22 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan expects total oil output next year to measure 39.8m tonnes, down from 41.3m tonnes this year, Russia’s Interfax news agency reporting quoting a government official. Oil is Azerbaijan’s most valuable commodity, although it is developing gas exports. The downturn confirms a general drop in production from Azerbaijan’s aging infrastructure despite a boost in investment.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 306, published on Nov. 25 2016)

People demonstrate in Azerbaijan over house demolitions

BAKU, NOV. 15 2016, (The Conway Bulletin) — Dozens of people in a suburb of Baku held a rare protest against the authorities over the demolition of 64 houses.

The authorities said that the houses needed to be cleared to build a new station for the city’s metro system extension. The protesters said, though, the compensation that they had been offered was derisory.

Nesibe Musayeva, one of the demonstrators, also said the authorities were deliberately underscoring the size of people’s properties.

“We can buy neither land nor houses with this money. Where can we go in such cold winter?” she said, tears welling up in her eyes. “Where can we go with such an amount of money? We don’t want money. We want just a place to live.”

In the run up to both the 2015 European Games and the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest, human rights groups accused Azerbaijan of abuse by beating residents who protested against house demolitions in the suburbs.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 305, published on Nov. 18 2016)

International Bank of Azerbaijan loans clear up

NOV. 14 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — In a half-year report, the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA), the country’s largest lender, said it completed the first stage of a cleanup of its toxic assets. In the first half of 2016, IBA transferred 9.9b manat (around $6b) to the government-owned credit company Aqrar Kredit. Azerbaijan’s ministry of finance owns 54.9% and Aqrar Kredit owns 27% in IBA.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 305, published on Nov. 18 2016)