Azerbaijan Expects Absheron Gas Production Start in 2021

French oil firm Total is expected to start production at Azerbaijan's Absheron gas field in the Caspian Sea in 2021, the Azeri energy minister told a local newspaper, a year later than the company has previously estimated.

Total last week submitted a fresh development plan for the field, which it operates. It was not clear if the new start date was from the plan, and the energy ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

"Production at Absheron will start in 2021," Natiq Aliyev said in an interview with the Khalq (Nation) daily published on Monday.

Total owns 40 percent of the field, as does Azeri state energy company SOCAR, while French group GDF Suez owns 20 percent. The company website gives a start date of 2020 for Phase I of the project to come on stream.

Absheron has estimated reserves of 350 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas and 45 tonnes of condensate. The consortium expects the field to produce 5 bcm of gas per year.

The Absheron development programme has been already drafted and it would be approved by the consortium by the end of 2014.

(Reporting by Nailia Bagirova; Writing by Margarita Antidze; Editing by Michael Urquhart)