BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 23. The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) and the Kazakh national company KazMunayGas continue to work on increasing oil supplies through the Caspian Sea, Deputy Chairman of the Board of KazMunayGas Bulat Zakirov said, Trend reports.
"We are currently developing new routes through the Caspian Sea, in particular through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline. We have been shipping Tengiz oil in this direction since March. We are working together with SOCAR as well as with our oil companies in Kazakhstan to increase these volumes in order to ensure diversification," he said.
Regarding the transportation of Kazakh oil through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), Zakirov highlighted that the creation of any large transport system similar to the CPC will take considerable time and will require capital investment.
"Billions of dollars are required. We will continue this work, but now the main work is being carried out in order to maintain the stability of existing export routes," he said.
According to Azerbaijani Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov, deliveries via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline from Kazakhstan will amount to 1.1 million tons of oil by the end of 2023.
"Every month, Azerbaijan receives from 12 to 14 tankers transporting Kazakh oil. This is a satisfactory development. The initial agreement between the parties provided for the transportation of 1.5 million tons of oil this year. However, given that deliveries began in April this year, we will be able to transport 1,1 million tons of oil by the end of 2023," he said.