Prospects for Azeri oil industry

Analysts are trying to decide at what point Azerbaijan will reach the peak of its oil extraction capacity. Head of the Azeri Oil Research Centre Ilham Shabanov thinks that due to the current economic crisis by 2011 Azerbaijan will be extracting around 50-55 million tonnes of oil annually. It extracted 44 million tonnes in 2008, and intends to produce around 48-49 million this year. From 2010 Azerbaijan will also start extracting oil from the Chirag project.

Analysts suggest that the peak of around 55 million tonnes of oil can continue to be produced until 2019. The prognosis is that by 2030 the country will still be extracting not less than 30 million tonnes per year.