Azerbaijan, Baku, June 6 / Trend E.Ismayilov /
Oil supplies under the Euro-Asian oil transportation corridor are cost-effective, a senior representative of the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR), reported.
Oil production in the North Sea is under decline. However, many oil refineries have been built specifically for this oil, the source said.
Talks are underway for supplying oil supply to the processing plants of the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, with oil deliveries via the Odessa-Brody pipeline a key issue and an integral part of the Euro-Asian oil transportation corridor.
"Today, the issue is under negotiation. Oil supply via this route can be launched even tomorrow [...] the pipe lacks technical problems," the source added.
The source said everything depends on reaching an agreement. In particular, the question of oil supply in this direction includes the price at which the plant buys oil and transportation costs. The prices must be such as to confirm commercial viability compared to other possible buyers.
SOCAR already supplies these refineries with oil, but supplies are going through Romania, the source said.
The source stressed that the Odessa-Brody pipeline has technical limitations. Its capacity is only 10 million tons per year, and all shipments along this route are limited to the set amounts. SOCAR supplies oil to the Ukrainian refineries and oil refinery in Belarus via this pipe.
Regarding the sale of its own oil, the SOCAR representative noted the broad geography of oil sales. SOCAR sells its oil products along the Black Sea and Mediterranean basins markets, as these are economically feasible. However, the growing quality of petroleum products could expand the list of buyers. Particularly, SOCAR plans to build the refining capacity in Azerbaijan, which will allow the production of petroleum products to meet Euro-5 standards.
"Everything depends on the products quality, which is constantly rising. When we move to higher standards [...] then we will receive greater interest from other European countries, whose standards are higher still," the source said.