Azerbaijan, Russia consider possibilities to increase volume of oil transit through Baku-Novorossisk pipeline

Today on the agenda of the Russian-Azerbaijan cooperation in energy sphere there is a question of increase in volume of transit of oil on the Baku-Novorossiysk route up to 5 million tons a year.

It was stated at 13th session of the intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation between Azerbaijan and Russia which took place these days in Moscow under the chairmanship of the first vice-premier of Azerbaijan Yagub Eyybov and the vice-president of the government of the Russian Federation Alexander Khloponin.

The parties discussed the question on amendments in the "Contract between the Azerbaijan Republic and the Russian Federation about transit of the Azerbaijani oil through territory of the Russian Federation from January 18, 1996" with a view of its adaptation to modern conditions, SOCAR's vice-president Elshad Nasirov said.

He stated that the contract doesn't provide transit of oil of the third parties – the Kazakh and Turkmen oil. "We want to increase transit volume, to satisfy the Russian side requirement about increase in transit of oil up to 5 million tons a year taking into account the difference of the quality of oil which we deliver.

We aren't interested in increase in transit of our oil, we could there pump oil of Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan which we get and we transport by rail and to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline", vice-president of SOCAR underlined.

Elshad Nasirov also informed that with the Russian side it was reached a deal that in the first half of current year, the parties, namely SOCAR and "Transneft" will discuss the text of amendments which will give the chance to fill the pipeline completely and to increase goods turnover between two countries. "It will be not the new agreement, but it is supplement to the contract signed in 1996", he stressed.

As known, for 2010 the volume of transit of the Azerbaijani oil through territory of the Russian Federation on the oil pipeline of Baku-Novorossiysk has made 2,3 million tons of oil.


/AzerTAc/