It is projected that Azerbaijan will produce about 40.62 million metric tons of oil in 2015 compared to 41.65 million metric tons of oil projected in 2014, the government of Azerbaijan told Oct.28.

In 2013, Azerbaijan produced some 43.15 million metric tons of oil.

The government said that oil production volumes will fluctuate until 2018, according to the forecasts.

In 2016, oil production in Azerbaijan will amount to 40.77 million metric tons, in 2017 - 39.42 million metric tons, and in 2018 - 40.32 million metric tons, the government said.

Most of the oil produced in Azerbaijan falls on the block of the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli offshore oil and gas fields (ACG), the proven oil reserves of which are estimated at 1 billion metric tons. More than 30 million metric tons of oil is annually produced from the unit developed by SOCAR in liaison with the foreign companies.

SOCAR also independently develops a series of offshore and onshore fields, from which it annually produces more than 8 million metric tons of oil.