Mineral industry of Azerbaijan

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As of 2017, Azerbaijan produced a range of metals and industrial minerals, including aluminum, bentonite, copper, gold, iodine, limestone, silver and steel.^[1]

Azerbaijan's importance as a world mineral producer, however, was based on its petroleum extracting industry. The country has been a significant oil producer for more than a century, but recent focus has been on developing offshore resources in the Caspian Sea. Production from the country’s Soviet-era fields is in decline, but since independence, foreign direct investment in offshore fields has revitalized the oil sector through the development of large-scale new projects and the refurbishment of older ones. In 2005, Azerbaijan had signed more than 20 major agreements to develop oilfields with approximately 30 companies from 15 countries.^[2]

As of 2017, oil production has entered a decline, falling by 5.6% since 2016. Crude petroleum has declined in Azerbaijan since 2010, when the nation produced a record 50.8 MT. Production in 2017 was only 38.7 MT.

In 2005, Oil extraction and refining accounted for more than 75% of the value of industrial production. The oil extraction and refining sectors and the metallurgy and metal fabrication sectors employed more than 60,000 people in 2005. The country was becoming a major producer of oil, producing far more than it consumed, but its natural gas production in 2005 was still significantly below its consumption. The country was increasing its steel products production at the Baku Steel company, a privately owned company that produced steel products from steel scrap.^[2]