Azeri 1H Gas Imports Up by Four-Fifths
Azerbaijan's gas imports increased by 80% year on year in the first half of 2018 to 1.41bn m3, according to official statistics.
The country also exported 4.88bn m3, about 1.3% more than 1H17, but revenues from gas exports increased by 12.1% to $753mn, thanks to the higher oil price, Customs Committee statistics indicate.
Azerbaijan exports its gas to Georgia and Turkey, while it imports Turkmen gas in the framework of swap deal with Iran - plus some imports from Russia.
The country’s sales gas production also declined by 4.4% to 8.9bn m3.
Statistics obtained by NGW from state-run Socar and BP showed that gross gas production rose by 2.7% to 14.498bn m³ during 1H2018 as more gas was re-injected in order to take advantage of oil prices.
Baku is eyeing 9.5bn m3 gas exports for the whole of 2018, 7% more than in 2017. The increase in supplies will occur due to the beginning of export via the Tanap pipeline, started on June 30 to Turkey.
|
Azerbaijan gas balance |
1H18 |
1H17 |
|
Sales gas production |
8.9 |
9.31 |
|
Storage in underground facilities (as of July 1) |
2.19 |
1.69 |
|
Imports |
1.41 |
0.78 |
|
Consumption |
5.43 |
5.17 |
|
Exports |
4.49 |
4.41 |
|
Losses in grid |
0.49 |
0.53 |
Source: Customs Committee, Socar, NGW (bn m3)