Russian termination of Baku-Novorossiisk oil transit not 'last word' - Azerbaijan
BAKU. May 17 (Interfax) - The presidential administration in Azerbaijan has downplayed the impact of the Russian government's decision to terminate an agreement on transit of Azerbaijani oil along the Baku-Novorossiisk oil pipeline.
"A number of media outlets are dramatizing the issue. Any state enters into one or another project from the standpoint of its economic benefits," the head of the presidential administration's political analysis and information provision department, Elnur Aslanov, told journalists on Friday.
"Negotiations and discussions concerning this issue were held previously," he said, adding: "This is not the last word in the matter."
Russia has terminated the agreement with Azerbaijan covering oil transit on the Baku-Novorossiisk oil pipeline through Russia, under an instruction signed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.
State Oil Company of the Azerbaijani Republic (Socar) is in favor of continuing negotiations with Transneft [the operator of the Russian segment of the pipeline], Socar said in an official statement.
"The Russian government's decision to terminate the agreement, that was signed with the Azerbaijani government on January 18, 1996, for transportation of Azerbaijani oil through Russia, is not political in nature but rather purely economic," the statement said.
The decision "did not come as a surprise to Socar," it said.
"The Russian government's decision was in full accordance with the terms of the agreement," it said.
Russia's decision "will in no way negatively affect the issue of transportation of Azerbaijani oil to world markets," Socar said. "Azerbaijan has in a short period created a reliable oil- and gas-pipeline export system and diversified it," it said.
"Moreover, termination of the inter-state agreement on transit of Azerbaijani oil on the Baku-Novorossiisk pipeline does not mean that all shipment of Azerbaijani oil on that pipeline will end," the statement said.
Socar exported 2.064 million tonnes of oil on the Baku-Novorossiisk pipeline in 2012.
Azerbaijan produces about 42 million tonnes of oil a year, of which about 20% is consumed domestically. The rest is exported.