Azerbaijan, Baku, March 1 / Trend E.Ismayilov /
The Russian Transneft sees no reason to reduce oil transit tariffs through the Baku-Novorossiysk pipeline, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing Transneft representative Igor Demin.
Azerbaijan and Russia are finishing the preparations of amendments to an agreement on oil transportation through the Baku-Novorossiysk pipeline, Azerbaijani Industry and Energy Minister Natiq Aliyev said earlier.
Demin said Transneft has not received any official document from the Azerbaijani side. The current rate to the amount of $ 15.67 per ton may be preserved if at least 5 million tons are pumped.
In September, 2011 talks were held in Baku on amendments to the intergovernmental agreement dated Jan. 18, 1996 for transporting Azerbaijani oil via Russia.
To date, the agreement between Azerbaijan and Russia on oil transportation negotiates clearly states the fact that the Baku-Novorossiisk oil pipeline can only transport oil of Azerbaijani origin. Cancellation of this paragraph will make it possible to transport oil of other countries such as Kazakhstan or Turkmenistan, currently passing through Azerbaijan.
Today, the cost of pumping a ton of oil from the Azerbaijani-Russian border to the tanker is $15.67 dollars per ton. However, we are working to determine the amount which will then see the tariff going down. This will increase the volume of oil transportation, Aliyev said earlier.
The bilateral Russian-Azerbaijani inter-governmental agreement on the transit of Azerbaijani oil via Baku-Novorossiysk pipeline signed in 1998 provides.
SOCAR ships through Novorossiysk oil from its own fields, as well as oil of joint ventures and operating companies working on Azerbaijan's onshore.
In 2012, SOCAR plans to pump 1.7 million tons of oil using the Baku-Novorossiysk against two million tons in 2011. The decline in oil pumping accounts for an increase in consumption of oil products in the country and as a consequence, the growth of recycling in local refineries.