Slim pickings for Eastern European offshore
Azerbaijan and Bulgaria are the main areas of European offshore activity east of the North Sea
OUTSIDE the continent’s northwest, the outlook for offshore production in Europe remains subdued, as concerns mount over reduced revenues, weak oil and gas export and delayed investments. In Azerbaijan’s Caspian Sea fields, oil production dipped in 2015, falling by just under 1% to 41.7m tonnes (about 0.84m barrels a day). The dip was largely attributable to a fall in production at the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) fields which account for most of the country’s output. ACG production in 2015 was 31.3m tonnes (about 630,000 b/d), 200,000 tonnes lower than the previous year, largely due to maintenance shutdowns. More closures are planned. Meanwhile, a fire at a rig operated by Socar in the Gu
Also in this section
14 April 2026
The GECF has warned it may revise its projections for demand this year downwards in light of conflict in the Middle East, although it maintains its forecasts for 2027 and onwards
13 April 2026
Petroleum Economist analysis highlights sharp shift from crude oversupply to market deficit, with Iraq and Kuwait badly affected and key producers Saudi Arabia and the UAE also seeing output sharply lower
13 April 2026
Turkmenistan is moving ahead with a modest expansion of the giant Galkynysh field to sustain gas deliveries abroad, but persistent delays to other key pipeline projects and geopolitical risks continue to constrain its export ambitions
13 April 2026
Expensive electricity has forced out swathes of energy-intensive industry and now threatens the country’s ability to attract future investment in datacentres and the digital economy
