Oil exports via BTC pipeline down 1.3% in 4M - BOTAS

BAKU. May 22 (Interfax) - Oil exports via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan or BTC pipeline totaled 73.148 million barrels in January-April 2024, down 1.3% from 74.141 million barrels in the same period of 2023, Turkish company BOTAS International Limited, operator of the Turkish section of the pipeline, said.

The exports fell 7.8% year-on-year to 17.826 million barrels in April.

They grew 1.5% to 228.811 million barrels in 2023.

Currently, the BTC oil pipeline pumps oil from the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli field block and condensate from the Shah Deniz field, as well as oil and condensate from State Oil Company of the Azerbaijani Republic (SOCAR). Oil is also pumped from other sources.

The BTC pipeline is 1,768 km long, and throughput capacity is over 50 million tonnes per year. Project participants are BP with 30.1%, SOCAR with 25%, MOL with 8.9%, Equinor with 8.71%, TPAO with 6.53%, Eni and TotalEnergies with 5% each, Itochu with 3.4%, ExxonMobil and Inpex with 2.5% each and ONGCVidesh with 2.36%. Equinor signed an agreement in December 2023 to sell its stake to SOCAR; the transaction will be considered complete after the parties have fulfilled a number of obligations.