Azerbaijan produced 25.4 billion cubic meters of natural gas in the first half of 2026, up from 25.2 billion a year earlier, Energy Ministry data show. Exports rose to 12.7 billion cubic meters from 12.1 billion, News.Az reported.
Here is where the gas came from. The BP-led Shah Deniz field supplied most of it, at 13.7 billion cubic meters, a shade under the 13.8 billion of the first half of 2025. The Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) fields in the Caspian Sea added 7.3 billion cubic meters of associated gas, up from 6.6 billion, and most of that gas is pumped back into oil wells to hold reservoir pressure. State company SOCAR produced 3.6 billion cubic meters, down from 4 billion. The offshore Absheron field made 800 million cubic meters, the same as before.
Who bought it
European countries took the largest share, 5.9 billion cubic meters, though that was lower than the 6.1 billion they bought a year earlier. Türkiye received 4.9 billion cubic meters, unchanged from the prior year. Georgia bought 1.2 billion, up from 1.1 billion. Syria received 700 million cubic meters, with shipments there having started in August 2025.
Baku signed a memorandum of understanding with the European Commission in 2022 to double gas exports to Europe by 2027. President Ilham Aliyev has said the country has the reserves to ramp up sales but needs long-term purchase agreements from European buyers before it invests in downstream projects. He has also said the EU is reluctant to help finance export infrastructure toward Europe.
Oil is sliding
The oil side looks worse. Exports of crude and condensate fell 9.5% year-on-year, to 10.5 million tons from 11.6 million, as output from aging deposits kept dropping. That decline sped up from a 2.5% drop a year earlier. Total oil and condensate production came to 13.3 million tons, against 13.7 million.
The ACG block, the country’s largest oilfield, produced 7.9 million tons of crude, compared with 8 million a year before. It has been in natural decline since its peak in 2010, when Azerbaijan pumped almost 51 million tons of crude and condensate. Output fell to 27.7 million tons last year. BP and its partners put $6 billion into a new production platform in 2024 to steady output.
Sources
Sources
- Azerbaijan’s natural gas exports to Türkiye reach $1.26 billion
- Azerbaijan natural gas output rose to 25.4 Bcm in H1 2026; Exports…
