Baku, Azerbaijan, June 3
By Maksim Tsurkov - Trend:
The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) has slightly decreased the export of petroleum products in order to direct them towards domestic consumption, SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev told reporters June 3.
The State Oil Company purposefully took this step in order to meet the domestic demand, according to Abdullayev.
"We are not suspending the export of petroleum products, but slightly decreasing the volume of supply to the foreign markets," said the company's president.
During the European Games, the demand for fuel will be quite high, according to Abdullayev. "In order to cover the increasing demand, we have decreased the export volume."
SOCAR exported 584,320 metric tons of petroleum products in January-May 2015, or 42 percent more than in the same period of 2014.
However, the decrease in the supply volumes is observed in the monthly indexes: SOCAR exported 126,400 metric tons of oil in April, compared to 109,300 metric tons in May.
The exported products include diesel fuel, jet fuel and furnace oil.
SOCAR exported 1.2 million metric tons of petroleum products in 2014, compared to around 1.05 million metric tons in 2013.
Previously, Azerbaijani petroleum products were produced at two refineries in Baku. Both of these refineries were included in SOCAR, which annually processes around 7 million metric tons of oil produced at onshore and offshore fields with its own funds.
SOCAR announced about liquidation of Azneftyag oil refinery and its merger with Baku Oil Refinery named after Heydar Aliyev in December 2014. The major part of Azerbaijani petroleum products is exported to Georgia.
Edited by CN
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