The Azerbaijan State Railway Department (ASRD) has ceased since 19 July the admission of transit oil and oil products, transported in the northern direction (Yalama discharge place), the ASRD told Trend.
Trend has been informed in the regional market of deliveries that at present the Georgian port is mainly involved in the delivery of oil produced by the Azerbaijan International Operating Company (AIOC) from the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli fields and its transportation via the Baku-Batumi route. As a result there is a deficit in oil cargo tankers and engine park for deliveries.
At present around 1,500 cisterns with mazut and diesel fuel supplied by Turkmenistan are standing in the border passage.
However, the problem is expected to get its resolution shortly. From September the AIOC plans to export Azeri Light by rail to the Georgian port of Batumi. The cessation of the oil export to Batumi is linked with the commissioning of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) main export oil pipeline.
By early September 2006 BTC Co plans to conclude work over the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline, which will enable to pump the cargo earlier exported to Batumi. This year approximately 430,000 tons of Azeri Light oil was exported to Batumi a month.