Azeri oil exports decline 5 pct in Jan-March

BAKU, April 16 (Reuters) - Azerbaijan's oil exports dropped by five percent year on year in the first quarter of 2014, following a decline in oil production at its main fields, where BP (LSE: BP.L - news) has a major interest, a source at the State Customs Committee said.

The source said Azerbaijan exported 8.092 million tonnes of oil, down from 8.501 million in the same three months last year.

Exports of oil via Russia through the Baku-Novorossiisk pipeline were 254,356 tonnes, down from 409,329 tonnes.

Exports of oil through the Baku-Supsa pipeline via Georgia stood at 1.081 million tonnes, the same as last year, while exports through Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan via Georgia and Turkey were 6.513 million tonnes, down from 6.782 million.

Oil exports shipped by a rail via Georgia rose to 244,209 tonnes from 229,007 tonnes.

Azerbaijan's oil and condensate output fell by 2.9 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2014 to 10.4 million tonnes, the State Statistics Committee said on Tuesday.

The decline in oil output in the January-March quarter was linked to lower output at main oilfields Azeri, Chirag and Guneshli (ACG), sources from the oil industry said.

Falling output at ACG oilfields - the biggest oil production project in Azerbaijan and one of the largest globally for oil major BP - have raised concerns in Baku.

BP and partner Azeri state energy firm SOCAR have tried to calm those fears by saying last year production had stabilised. Total (NYSE: TOT - news) oil output grew last year for the first time since 2011.

BP said earlier this year that oil production at ACG 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.

The company did not say when the work would start.

(Reporting by Nailia Bagirova; Writing by Margarita Antidze; Editing by David Evans)