BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 24
By Nargiz Ismayilova - Trend:
The Belarusian State Concern for Oil and Chemistry (Belneftekhim Concern) plans to conclude long-term contracts with partners from Azerbaijan, Spokesperson for the Belneftekhim Concern Alexander Tishchenko told Trend.
Negotiations are underway on the conditions for long-term cooperation, said the spokesperson.
Since early 2020, SOCAR has delivered 3.8 million barrels of oil to Belarus.
“Azerbaijani oil was purchased from the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), one of the largest oil companies in the world. In matters of oil supply, long-term relationships are especially important. Currently, there is a clear understanding that alternative supplies are needed on an ongoing basis,” Tishchenko said.
“In addition to the above, a phased annual increase in their volumes is planned. We aren’t going to stop the supply of alternative oil and a set of measures has been developed for this. Regular deliveries of alternative oil begin 2020,” the spokesperson noted said.
Earlier, Tishchenko said that the Socar Trading, a subsidiary of the SOCAR, will send four batches of oil totaling about 335,000 tons to the Belneftekhim Concern through the port of Odessa and the Odessa-Brody pipeline to the Mozyr oil refinery.
Of these, three consignments with a total volume of about 250,000 tons were shipped in March, and one consignment in April with a volume of 85,000 tons.
According to Belneftekhim, SOCAR can supply up to 1 million tons of oil to Belarus in 2020.
Oil supplies from Azerbaijan to Belarus via the Odessa-Brody pipeline were also carried out in 2011. The contract provided for 4 million tons, but the actual volume of shipments amounted to about 900,000 tons.
Oil supplies to Belarus southward through Ukraine were resumed due to the lack of imports from large Russian companies due to price differences.
During the absence of oil supplies from Russia, Belarus began its alternative import - through the port of Klaipeda by rail to the Naftan refinery and through the Odessa port to the Mozyr refinery through the Odessa-Brody and Brody-Mozyr pipelines.
Alternative oil supplies from Norway and Azerbaijan have also began. In May, Belneftekhim began importing oil from Saudi Arabia and the US.
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