UPDATE 3-Azerbaijan cuts 2009 oil output forecast by a fifth

(Adds Socar project details)

By Lada Yevgrashina

BAKU, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Azerbaijan has cut its 2009 oil production forecast by a fifth to 45 million tonnes due to production problems and low oil prices, potentially ending a decade of rapid output growth, an Azeri government source said.

The revision comes after Azerbaijan in December became the only non-OPEC nation to offer output cuts at the group's meeting in Algeria, saying it was ready to cut output by 300,000 barrels per day to 540,000 bpd, its lowest output level in two years.

If Thursday's forecast proves accurate, 2009 would mark the first year in which production has stayed flat in a decade that has seen the country raise production more than fivefold.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not allowed to comment on the topic, told Reuters the country had previously expected to produce 57 million tonnes. Azerbaijan extracted 44 million tonnes of oil in 2008.

Most of Azeri oil production is controlled by a BP-led consortium, which since September has experienced technical problems at the giant Azeri-Chirag-Gyuneshli (ACG) deposit, the main source of oil for the BP-operated Baku-Ceyhan pipeline running from the Caspian Sea to the Turkish Mediterranean coast.

Oil production was suspended at two platforms -- Western and Central Azeri -- due to a gas leak and has only partially resumed, falling short of a forecast 42 million tonnes.

The Azeri state energy company Socar said production had resumed at seven out of the platform's 11 wells since December, but average production dropped to 14,000 tonnes a day, threefold less than previously. Socar is a part of the BP-led group.