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BAKU, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Azerbaijan expects to keep oilproduction at its main Azeri, Chirag and Guneshli (ACG) fieldsat 31.5 million tonnes in 2015, the same level as in 2014, vicepresident of the Azeri state energy company SOCAR said onWednesday.
"We would like to keep oil production at the ACG block in2015 at the last year's level," said at the
SOCAR's Khoshbakht Usifzade said oil production at the BP -operated ACG fields in 2014 was 31.5 million tonnes.
Speaking at the Caspian Business Forum, Usifzade said dailyproduction at these oilfields, which account for most ofAzerbaijan's production, was 86,000 tonnes in the first ninemonths of 2015, while total output at the ACH in that period was23.5 million tonnes.
BP said in August that daily oil output at the ACG fell toan average 641,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the first half of2015 from 656,000 bpd in the same period last year and 661,000bpd in the first quarter of this year.
Crude oil and condensate production in Azerbaijan fell 2.2percent to 31.4 million tonnes in the first nine months of 2015,from 32.1 million tonnes a year earlier, a source at the StateStatistics Committee said on Tuesday.
Crude oil and condensate production in Azerbaijan fell to41.9 million tonnes last year from 43.1 million in 2013.
Oil production rose to 14.2 million tonnes in the first fourmonths of 2015 from 13.6 million a year earlier.
Output started to decline in May, however, as BP suspendedoperations at one platform in the Caspian Sea, West Azeri, forplanned maintenance on May 21 for 22 days.
Falling output at the ACG oilfields has been a cause ofconcern in Baku.
BP and its partner, SOCAR, tried to calm worries in 2013,saying production had stabilised. Total oil output rose in 2013for the first time since 2011, but the decline resumed in 2014.
Azerbaijan plans to produce 40.7 million tonnes of oil in2015. (Reporting by Nailia Bagirova; Writing by Margarita Antidze;Editing by Gabriela Baczynska and Louise Heavens)