BP's Azeri oil output down in H1 y/y

BAKU, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Output from Azerbaijan's Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) oilfields fell to an average 656,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the first half of 2014 from 672,000 bpd in the same period last year, BP (LSE: BP.L - news) -Azerbaijan said in a statement.

A drop in production at the ACG fields, which account for most of Azerbaijan's output, has raised concern in the former Soviet republic, which depends heavily on them for revenue. Last year President Ilham Aliyev accused operator BP of making "false promises".

BP said earlier this year that oil production at the ACG fields might be slightly lower than in 2013 as the company planned maintenance work at the Central Azeri and West Azeri platforms, halting operations for a couple of weeks.

Still, production in the first half was higher than the average 645,800 bpd produced in the first three months of the year.

Natural gas output at Shah Deniz stood at 4.75 billion cubic metres (bcm), in line with the 4.8 bcm in the first half of 2013. Shah Deniz is being developed by partners BP, Statoil , SOCAR and others.

(Reporting by Nailia Bagirova; Writing by Katya Golubkova; Editing by Alan Raybould)