BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 4. The pace of increasing transit of Kazakh oil through Baku to the world market depends on the availability of transportation infrastructure and agreements on commercial issues, an informed source in SOCAR told Trend.
"In March, we decided to gradually boost transit service. The volume of Kazakh oil pumped through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline is expected to reach 1.7 million tons by 2024. Reaching the intended peak figure of 2.2 million tons per year is dependent on infrastructural construction, including the involvement of a sufficient number of tankers that can be served in ports on the Caspian Sea," the source stressed.
Meanwhile, Kazakhstan transported almost 1.4 million tons of oil through BTC in 2023.
According to the source, SOCAR announced for KazMugaiGas a commercial offer for pumping Kazakh oil through the Baku-Supsa pipeline, which has been idle for almost two years.
"Kazakhstan would like to pump through Baku-Supsa 1-3 million tons of oil per year. We have proposed a tariff, the Kazakh side is making calculations. The decision has not been made yet," the source noted.
He said that SOCAR is also ready to accept part of Kazakh oil at the Heydar Aliyev Refinery in Baku, and the testing of its processing has already passed.
"It is being clarified which volumes of Kazakh oil it is expedient for Baku refinery to accept, and when regular operations may start," the source informed.
To note, SOCAR and KazMunaiGas signed two documents in Baku on March 11: an agreement on a phased increase in oil transit and a Memorandum of Strategic Cooperation on the purchase and sale of Kazakh oil (it defines the possibilities of processing Kazakh oil at SOCAR's refinery).
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