BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 14. The current capacity of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline allows it to transport oil from third countries, but the correct balance of the oil mixture is needed to prevent negative impact on the high quality of BTC Blend - Azeri Light oil, bp's Vice President for the Caspian region, Communications and External Affairs Bakhtiyar Aslanbayli told an Azerbaijani TV channel, Trend reports.
“The BTC with a daily capacity of one million barrels of oil is now slightly more than half loaded. There is an opportunity to attract additional oil from third countries, including from Kazakhstan. This is mutually beneficial, but both commercial and technical issues (oil quality) need to be resolved,” Aslanbayli explained.
He added that the BTC capacity can be increased to 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) using reagents, and up to 1.6 million bpd through additional compressors, in case of interest from third parties.
To note, Kazakhstan has expressed interest in doubling oil transit through Baku, bringing it to three million tons per year.