Why do oil exports stats of Azerbaijani customs and SOCAR differ?

Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 19

By Anvar Mammadov – Trend:

Differences in oil export indicators published by Azerbaijan’s State Customs Committee and state oil company SOCAR are explained by a different methodology of calculation, Head of the Committee’s Main Department for Evaluation of Efficiency and Development Programs Igbal Babayev said.

He made the remarks at a press conference in Baku Jan. 19.

The main reason for the difference in statistical data is that the statistics of the State Customs Committee on exports are based on declarations.

“A declaration on the sold oil is provided after the actual sale, and not at the time of oil pumping through the pipeline. Usually, oil sales declarations are submitted to the State Customs Committee in two to three months. Therefore, the data may differ,” explained Babayev.

He added that certain changes were made to the international concept of export in 2017.

“The concepts of 'crossing the border' and 'export' began to differ from each other. Previously, any goods that crossed the border were considered as exported, but today the goods are considered as exported from the moment of signing a declaration. There is one more term – the customs zone outside the country. For us, the port of Ceyhan [in Turkey] can be called such a customs area,” he noted. "The supply of oil to the port is not an export; only after the oil is listed on the exchange and a declaration is drawn up, that oil is considered as exported."

According to the State Customs Committee, Azerbaijan exported 27.2 million tons of oil in 2017, whereas according to SOCAR, the export stood at 31.2 million tons.