The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)

Azerbaijan cooperates with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) within the OPEC Plus format and the Charter of Cooperation.

In January 2016, during his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev proposed the establishment of a new international energy platform for cooperation between OPEC and non-OPEC countries with the aim of stabilizing oil prices. This initiative subsequently made a significant contribution to the formation of the OPEC plus format.

2016

On 29 October, the first meeting of the High-Level Committee of OPEC and non-OPEC countries was held in Vienna.

On 10 December, 11 OPEC and non-OPEC countries, including Azerbaijan, signed an agreement in Vienna to cut daily oil production by a total of 558,000 barrels. In accordance with the Vienna Declaration, Azerbaijan committed to reducing daily output by 35,000 barrels, setting a production ceiling of 834,000 barrels per day.

2017

Azerbaijan joined the decision to extend the agreement on reduction of oil production by the first quarter and the end of 2018.

2018

OPEC Secretary General , Mohammad Barkindo paid a visit to Azerbaijan. 

Azerbaijan supported the agreement reached at the 4th Ministerial Meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC countries on increasing oil production by 1 million barrels per day.

At the 5th Ministerial Meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC countries, an agreement was reached on the oil production cut by 1.2 million barrels per day from the level of October 2018. According to the new decision, from January 2019 oil production was reduced by 800,000 barrels per day by OPEC members, while non-cartel countries reduced their production by 400,000 barrels per day. Azerbaijan has made a commitment to reduce its production by about 20,000 barrels per day.  Daily oil production for our country was set at the volume of 776,000 barrels.

2019

On 17-18 March, Baku hosted the 27th Meeting of the Joint Technical Commission (JTC) of OPEC and non-OPEC countries and the 13th Meeting of Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC).

Azerbaijan also joined the Charter of Cooperation adopted in July between OPEC and non-OPEC countries. The Charter of Cooperation aims to facilitate dialogue between oil extractors, consumers, investors and participating countries in order to promote cooperation in the field of oil market stability, technology and other fields for the benefit of the world economy, promote a better understanding of the short, medium and long-term fundamentals of the oil market, including the oil approach in the growing global energy mix among the participating countries, and support the energy policies for the long-term oil usage.

 The daily oil cut under OPEC plus by 1.2 million barrels is planned to be applied until 31 March 2020.

In December, at the 7th OPEC plus Ministerial Meeting, the commitment to reduce daily oil production in the first quarter of 2020 was increased to 1.7 million barrels. Azerbaijan's commitment was set at 27,000 barrels, with its quota being 769,000 barrels.

2020

According to the agreement reached on 9-12 April at the 9th and 10th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting were held in a videoconferencing, the Declaration of Cooperation on the reduction of daily oil production by April 2022 in three stages was adopted.

As part of the decision to reduce daily oil production by 9.7 million barrels from 1 May under the OPEC plus framework, Azerbaijan's commitment for May-June was set at 164 thousand barrels, with its daily crude oil production quota determined at 554 thousand barrels.

In December, at the 12th meeting of the ministers, in accordance with the decision to reduce daily crude oil production by 7.2 million barrels for January 2021, Azerbaijan's commitment was set at 123 thousand barrels, with its quota being 595 thousand barrels.

2021

According to the new decision, the daily crude oil production of OPEC plus countries will be 7 million and 125 thousand barrels in February and 7 million and 50 thousand barrels in March. Azerbaijan's commitment of 123 thousand barrels in January this year will remain unchanged in February-March-April. 

The decision was adopted on increasing the crude oil production up to approximately 1.1 million barrels in the next three months at the 15th Ministerial Meeting of OPEC Plus countries. According to the new agreement, the production commitments of OPEC Plus countries were set as 6.5 million barrels for May, 6.2 million barrels for June and 5.76 million for July. The new production commitments of Azerbaijan  will make up as 115 thousand barrels for May, 108 thousand barrels for June and 98 thousand barrels for July. Throughout the country, the crude oil production will be maintained at 603 thousand barrels in May, 610 thousand barrels in June and 620 thousand barrels in July respectively.

At the 19th meeting it was agreed to increase daily crude oil output by 400,000 barrels per month in August-December 2021 and to extend the Declaration of Cooperation until the end of 2022 with partial adjustments to the base level of oil production from May 2022. It envisaged increasing daily crude oil production in Azerbaijan from August to the end of the year in the appropriate volume every month, as well as reducing its obligations related to cuts. The new Declaration of Cooperation envisages an increase in daily crude oil production in Azerbaijan by 7,000 barrels in October to reach 640,000 barrels, while the reduction commitment is 78,000 barrels.

 The monthly decisions envisaged an increase in daily crude oil production in Azerbaijan by 7,000 barrels in November to reach 647,000 barrels, in December to 654,000 while the reduction commitment is 71,000 and 64,000 barrels. The new "Declaration of Cooperation" envisages an increase in daily crude oil production in Azerbaijan by 7,000 barrels in January 2022 to reach 661,000 barrels, while the reduction commitment is 57,000 barrels.

2022

During the regular monthly meetings, in accordance with the adjustment to increase oil production by 400-432 thousand barrels under the OPEC Plus framework, Azerbaijan's production level was increased by 7 thousand barrels each month. The production quotas were set as follows: 668 thousand barrels in February, 675 thousand barrels in March, 682 thousand barrels in April, 688 thousand barrels in May, and 695 thousand barrels in June.

In July and August, under the decisions of OPEC Plus to increase production by 648 thousand barrels, Azerbaijan's daily crude oil production was planned to be increased by 10,000-11,000 barrels, reaching a range of 706-717 thousand barrels, with a reduction commitment of 12,000-11,000 barrels.

In September, the decision to increase production by 100 thousand barrels resulted in Azerbaijan's daily crude oil production reaching 718 thousand barrels. In October, Azerbaijan's daily crude oil production quota was set at 717 thousand barrels. 

According to the decision made in October to reduce daily crude oil production by 2 million barrels starting from November 2022, Azerbaijan's reduction commitment was set at 33 thousand barrels per day. Thus, the OPEC plus agreement envisages that starting from November 2022, the daily crude oil production in our country will be reduced from the level of August, i.e. 717 thousand barrels and mintained at 684 thousand barrels.

2023

In June, at the 35th meeting of the OPEC and non-OPEC ministers held in Vienna, a decision was made to regulate the level of daily total crude oil production for the countries of the "Declaration of Cooperation" for the year 2024. The production quota under the OPEC Plus framework was set at 40.46 million barrels, with Azerbaijan's quota determined at 551 thousand barrels.

 

At the 36th meeting held in November, it was agreed that Brazil would join OPEC Plus starting from January 2024. Azerbaijan's production quota for 2024 was maintained at the same level.

2024

Azerbaijan also supported the decision adopted at the meeting to extend the term of the current Declaration of Cooperation from 1 January to 31 December 2025. The new decision provides for the stable maintenance of the current level of crude oil production in the OPEC plus countries in 2025, the extension of the assessment of output indicators by three independent sources until the end of November 2025 and to determine new reference production level for 2026 based on these results. It should be noted that the production quota of Azerbaijan for next year is 551,000 barrels per day.

During the 38th Ministerial Meeting held in December, OPEC plus countries determined production indicators by the end of 2026 in the amount of 39.7 million barrels. According to this agreement, Azerbaijan's daily production was maintained at a constant level of 551 thousand barrels.

2025

On May, at the 39th Ministerial Meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC countries, Azerbaijan also supported the decision to keep daily oil production constant until the end of 2026. Azerbaijan's current crude oil production quota of 551 thousand barrels per day will remain stable during this period.