Azerbaijan, Baku / Trend / In January to November 2007 a total of 7.116mln tons of oil was transported via pipelines from Azerbaijan, the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) reported.
In this period export via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) export pipeline made up 5.97mln tons. The BP-operated BTC is used for transportation of light oil produced from the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli fields. Only two foreign participants in the project of the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli field development - US companies ExxonMobil and Devon deliver their oil via the BTC. These companies were not investors in the BTC construction and sell their oil via the Georgian port of Batumi, supplied by the railway.
In January to September export via the Baku-Novorossiysk (northern pipeline) made up 1.146mln tons. This route mainly transports SOCAR oil produced from the fields funded by themselves, as well as crude lifted by onshore joint ventures and operating companies with foreign capital. This pipeline is operated by BP. SOCAR will take over operating rights following BP's decision to re-direct light oil from the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli fields (excluding volumes belonging to ExxonMobil and Devon) via the BTC.