Azeri oil exports up 3.7 pct in Jan-Feb y/y - customs committee source

BAKU, March 17 (Reuters) - Azeri oil exports rose 3.7 percent in January-February year-on-year, a source at the State Customs Committee said on Tuesday, driven by increasing oil output at fields operated by BP.

The source, who declined to be identified as he was not authorised to talk to the media, said Azerbaijan exported 5.5 million tonnes of oil in the first two months of this year, up from 5.3 million in the same period in 2014.

He said rising oil output at the main Azeri, Chirag and Guneshli (ACG) oilfields operated by BP had been the reason for the overall increase.

Crude oil and condensate production in Azerbaijan rose to 6.952 million tonnes in January-February this year from 6.897 million tonnes in the same period last year, the State Statistics Committee said last week.

Exports of oil via Russia through the Baku-Novorossiisk pipeline amounted to 254,127 tonnes in January-February 2015, up from 209,452 tonnes a year earlier.

Exports through the Baku-Supsa pipeline via Georgia rose to 715,290 tonnes from 713,803 tonnes, while exports through Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan via Georgia and Turkey were at 4.3 million tonnes, up from 4.2 million tonnes.

Oil exports shipped by rail via Georgia rose to 194,285 tonnes from 156,628.

Azerbaijan's oil exports dropped 3.5 percent to 33.04 million tonnes in 2014 from 34.25 million in 2013. (Reporting by Nailia Bagirova; Writing by Margarita Antidze; Editing by Dale Hudson)