Azerbaijan, Baku / Trend corr S. Aliyev / State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) is to hold negotiations with Russia on the conclusion of a new agreement within the framework of oil export through the Baku-Novorossiysk oil pipeline.
A SOCAR representative reported on 23 April that the company would sign a new agreement with the Transneft (Russian oil company) in case the Azerbaijani International Operational Company (AIOC) refuses to operate the Baku-Novorossiysk pipeline and the Azerbaijani government makes a decision to maintain the export. "We cannot become the successor of the AIOC, neither does Transneft," he said.
AIOC is engaged in oil production on the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshly fields. The company is the current operator of the Baku-Novorossiysk, Baku-Supsa, and Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipelines.
Due to the re-direction of all oil export volumes of the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshly field to the BTC, the AIOC is to turn down operating the Baku-Novorossiysk pipeline. The partners of the AIOC (apart from ExxonMobil and Devon) have transported oil from Azeri-Chirag-Guneshly through Baku-Novorossiysk until 1 April, 2007. ExxonMobil and Devon are not the BTC partners. They transport the oil by railway to the Georgian port of Batumy.