Kazakhstan expecting to export up to 5 bln tonnes of oil per year via Baku-Supsa pipeline

ALMATY. April 18 (Interfax) - Kazakhstan is working with Azerbaijan on the possibility of transporting up to 5 million tonnes of Kazakh oil per year via the Baku-Supsa oil pipeline, Kazakh Energy Ministry's the press service said.

"The issue of considering the possibility of transporting Kazakh oil via the Baku-Supsa oil pipeline in an amount of up to 5 million tonnes per year is being discussed with the Azerbaijani side," according to information that the ministry made available to journalists.

Kazakhstan had previously aimed to transport up to 3 million tonnes of its oil annually via the Baku-Supsa oil pipeline, and has been negotiating this with Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said in May last year that Baku and Astana were in talks to increase Kazakh oil exports via Azerbaijan. Referring to increases in the supply of Kazakh oil via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, the president said that there could be a problem with the quality of the final product, as Kazakh oil differs from Azeri Light.

But there are other options. "If the quality of the final oil in Ceyhan changes, we have an unused pipeline that runs from Baku to the seaport of Supsa, and it can also be involved due to the large market on the Black Sea," Aliyev said.

Kazakhstan began supplying oil via the BTC pipeline last year in a bid to diversify oil export routes. The State Oil Company of the Azerbaijani Republic (SOCAR) and KazMunayGas signed an agreement on the transportation of 1.5 million tonnes of Kazakh oil per year on this route. The exports began in April 2023.

The Kazakh Energy Ministry said another 1.5 million tonnes should be pumped via the BTC this year also.