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BAKU, July 15 (Reuters) - Crude oil and condensateproduction in Azerbaijan declined to 20.9 million tonnes in thefirst half of 2015 from 21.2 million tonnes a year earlier, asource at the State Statistics Committee said on Wednesday.
Declining output at the main Azeri, Chirag and Guneshli(ACG) oilfields operated by Britain's BP led the overalldecline, said the source, who declined to be identified becausehe was not authorised to talk to the media.
Natural gas production fell to 14.6 billion cubic metres(bcm) in January-June from 15.1 bcm a year earlier due to loweroutput from state energy company SOCAR, the source said.
Crude oil and condensate production in Azerbaijan fell to41.9 million tonnes last year from 43.1 million in 2013. Naturalgas output was 29.2 bcm in 2014.
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 and said it would shutanother platform for planned maintenance in two months.
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 and30.2 bcm of gas in 2015. (Reporting by Nailia Bgirova; Writing by Margarita Antidze;Editing by Dale Hudson)
