Azerbaijan's Crude Exports Earn $10.1bn in Nine Months as Volumes Fall

Azerbaijan exported 15.83 million tonnes of crude oil and petroleum products obtained from bituminous minerals in January to September 2026, worth $10.103 billion, according to State Customs Committee data reported by Azernews. Export volumes fell 6.86% from a year earlier while their value rose 13.02%, and the category accounted for 48.04% of Azerbaijan's total exports in the nine months.

Income from the country's two main offshore projects also rose. The State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) received AZN 7,135.7 million from the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) and Shah Deniz fields in January to September, up 3.7% from AZN 6,880.9 million a year earlier, APA reported, citing the fund's data. ACG provided AZN 6,570.6 million and Shah Deniz, from gas and condensate, AZN 565.1 million.

Output slips 3.9%

The gains came as production fell. Azerbaijan produced 19,860.1 thousand tonnes of crude oil, including gas condensate, in January to September, 96.1% of the level a year earlier, according to the State Statistical Committee's monthly report as tabulated by APA. Natural gas output was 37,521.3 million cubic metres, 99.3% of the year-earlier level. Crude oil and natural gas production was worth 27,576.2 million manats of the mining industry's 31,055.9 million manats of output, and was 96.9% of the year-earlier level in constant prices.

ACG remains the core of the oil sector. It yielded 7.9 million tonnes of the 13.3 million tonnes of oil, including condensate, produced in the first half of 2026, while SOCAR's output was 3.4 million tonnes, according to Ministry of Energy operational data. Consortiums accounted for 9.5 million of the 10.5 million tonnes of oil exported in that period, and total oil production averaged 552 thousand barrels a day.

The ACG contract

Under the ACG agreement amended on 14 September 2017, the development period runs to the end of 2050, SOCAR's participating interest rose from 11.65% to 25% and Azerbaijan's share of profit oil was set at 75%, Trend reported. Trend listed the ACG partners as SOCAR (35.30%), bp (30.37%), MOL Group (9.57%), INPEX (9.31%), ExxonMobil (6.79%), TPAO (5.73%) and ONGC Videsh (2.92%). Production of non-associated gas at ACG began on 1 June 2026 under an agreement signed on 20 September 2024. By 1 October 2026 ACG had produced 629.5 million tonnes of oil since start-up, the Ministry of Energy said in a statement cited by Trend.

Why it matters

Price, not volume, is carrying Azerbaijan's oil income this year: export value and SOFAZ's field income rose while physical exports and output fell. Because Azerbaijan's share of ACG profit oil is 75%, the state takes most of the profit oil gain when prices rise. That supports the fiscal and currency backdrop for companies operating in the country; ING has called Azerbaijan a beneficiary of hydrocarbon instability. It also means the gains depend on prices. Azerbaijan's 2027 to 2030 spending framework assumes $65 oil, and lower volumes leave less room if prices fall towards that level.

For oilfield contractors, falling output keeps the focus on sustaining production from existing platforms. SOCAR has selected SLB to overhaul two Caspian Sea oil platforms, and the ACG development period, now running to 2050, leaves a long horizon for investment in the field.

What to watch

• Fourth-quarter customs data, to see whether export value keeps rising while volumes fall.
• SOFAZ's income from ACG and Shah Deniz in the final quarter, after AZN 7,135.7 million in the first nine months.
• Ministry of Energy reporting on ACG's non-associated gas, in production since 1 June 2026.