Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 13
By Maksim Tsurkov – Trend:
Azerbaijan may resume transshipment of its liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) through the Batumi Oil Terminal in Georgia in 2018, a source in Azerbaijan’s oil and gas market said Dec. 13.
Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR and Kazakhstan’s KazTransOil, a 100 percent owner of the Batumi Oil Terminal, will hold the relevant negotiations and discussions, according to the source.
“The transshipment volume of Azerbaijan’s LPG through the Batumi Oil Terminal decreased from 156,000 tons in 2010 to 23,000 tons in 2014, and in 2015, the transshipment was stopped,” the source said. “The last contract for the LPG transportation from Azerbaijan to Batumi was signed in October 2016 based on the final protocol of the 13th meeting of the Kazakhstan-Azerbaijan intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation.”
The source noted that the Batumi Oil Terminal received the first volume of LPG under the latest contract on October 10, 2016.
“Some 1,750 tons of LPG were loaded on a tanker October 16,” the source noted. “No other volumes were received under the contract. The deal expired on December 31, 2016, and no new contract was signed for 2017. Therefore, in order to implement the earlier agreements, it is proposed to resume and continue transshipment of Azerbaijan’s LPG through the Batumi Oil Terminal.”