Azerbaijan, Baku, Aug. 27 / Trend E.Ismayilov /
Around 1.7 million tons of the Azerbaijani oil will be pumped to the Baku-Novorossiysk pipeline in 2012 compared to 2 million tons of oil in 2011, a source in the country's oil and gas market said on Saturday.
The source said the drop in oil pumping is linked with the increased consumption of petroleum products within the country, and the growth of processing at local refineries as a result.
SOCAR exported 2.24 million tons of oil from Novorossiysk last year compared to 2.5 million tons in 2009.
In 2008, SOCAR exported 1.2 million tons of oil via the Baku-Novorossiysk. In 2007, the figure was around 1.2 million tons of oil as in 2006. Exports via Baku-Novorossiysk were 1.6 million tons in 2005.
SOCAR transships its own oil, as well as oil of joint ventures and operating companies operating in Azerbaijan's onshore fields, through Novorossiysk.
Until late 2007, AIOC was the operator of Baku-Novorossiysk. The structure then transferred these functions to SOCAR.