Moldova’s GDP growth eases to 0.4% y/y in Q1 on softer domestic demand
4 hours ago
Azerbaijan's crude oil exports fetched an average of $79.5 a barrel in the first quarter of 2026, 7.15% higher than a year earlier and well above the $65 a barrel assumed in this year's state budget, according to Central Bank of Azerbaijan data reported by Report.az.
The gap between the realised price and the budget benchmark points to a built-in fiscal cushion for 2026: at $79.5/b, the average price is running roughly 22% above the assumption underpinning this year's spending plan. Last year, Azerbaijan's benchmark Azeri Light crude averaged $68.5/b.
Separately, State Customs Committee data covering January-May 2026 point to diverging trends within Azerbaijan's energy exports, with crude shipments contracting in both volume and value even as petroleum product and petroleum coke exports rose sharply.
Azerbaijan exported 8.83mn tonnes of crude oil and petroleum products obtained from bituminous minerals in the first five months of the year, down 14.8% in volume and 9.24% in value year on year to $5.12bn, customs data showed. The category remained the largest single component of the country's exports, accounting for 36.66% of the total.
By contrast, exports of petroleum products climbed 97.7% by volume to 410,646 tonnes, with their value up roughly 250% y/y to $332.3mn. The increase lifted petroleum products' share of total exports to 2.38%.
Petroleum coke exports also rose, up 44.4% by volume to 96,872 tonnes and 81.5% by value to $38.7mn, though coke's share of total exports remained modest at 0.28%.
Azerbaijan's overall foreign trade turnover reached $20.79bn in the January-May period, comprising $13.97bn of exports and $6.82bn of imports, the State Customs Committee said. Exports rose 27% y/y, while imports fell 31.6%.
The Heydar Aliyev Baku Oil Refinery, described by SOCAR as the region's only oil refining enterprise, supplies Azerbaijan's domestic market with Ai-92 petrol, diesel and jet fuel and provides feedstock to SOCAR's petrochemical plants in the country, with part of its output exported. Modernisation and reconstruction work under way at the refinery is intended to increase its production capacity, supply the domestic market with fuel meeting the Euro-5 standard, ensure a stable feedstock supply for the Azerikimya Production Union, and raise the country's export potential for petroleum products.
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