Tag Archives: pipelines

Russia offers Azerbaijan a discount for oil transit

FEB. 24 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Looking to boost the flow of oil through its Soviet-era Baku-Novorossiisk pipeline, Russian pipeline monopoly Transneft has offered Azerbaijan a reduced price for using the route, media reported.

Azerbaijan and Russia have been arguing about the price of oil shipments through the Baku-Novorossiisk pipeline over the past few years. Last year, as the row intensified, Russia said it would close the pipeline altogether.

The root cause of the problem is that Azerbaijan has increased the number of export routes it has serving its energy producing fields in and around the Caspian Sea.

Under a 2013 deal Azerbaijan was supposed to pump 5m tonnes of oil through the 1,330km Baku-Novorossiisk pipeline every year at a cost of just under $16/tonne. This volume never happened and the through-flow of oil from Baku to Novorossiisk dropped to about 1.75m tonnes.

At this volume, Transneft had said it would charge $21/tonne of oil, a price the Azerbaijanis quickly rejected.

The row over oil deliveries from Baku to Novorossiisk has strained relations between the two countries. Azerbaijan has still to respond to Russia’s new offer.

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(News report from Issue No. 173, published on Feb. 26 2014)

Azerbaijan expands Georgian pipeline

FEB. 17 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR said that it was expanding its pipeline network in Georgia by 750km. This expansion, the company said, would boost its customer base by 22,000. SOCAR currently operates 1,179km of gas pipeline in Georgia and has 37,500 subscribers.

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(News report from Issue No. 172, published on Feb. 19 2014)

Iraq looks to Azerbaijan for gas transit

FEB. 10 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan underlined its credentials as a regional energy transport lynchpin by offering to pump Iraqi gas to Europe through its pipeline network.

The offer came during a trip to Baghdad by Azerbaijani foreign minister Elmar Mammadyarov and underlines the importance of the so-called Southern Gas Corridor.

“The project is there, so if there are other countries that want to join the Southern Gas Corridor, including Iraq which has already expressed some interest in this project, we are ready to start negotiations,” the AFP news agency quoted Mr Mammadyarov as saying.

Azerbaijan is planning a massive boost to its gas extraction and pipeline infrastructure over the next few years to cope with a rise in gas exports. This means developing the Southern Gas Corridor and attracting partners to tap into it.

Iraq is, of course, trying to boost its gas exports since the end of the US-led war and has turned to Azerbaijan for help.

To make the deal go through, Azerbaijan needs the support of Turkey which is its partner in the Trans- Anatolian Gas Pipeline (TANAP). Turkey, a NATO member and ally of the United States, is likely to agree.

All this underlines the importance of the Southern Gas Corridor running through the South Caucasus between the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea and Europe.

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(News report from Issue No. 171, published on Feb. 12 2014)

Azerbaijan cuts gas exports to Russia

JAN. 16 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan cut gas supplies to Russia, potentially inflaming relations between the two neighbours. SOCAR, Azerbaijan’s state-owned energy company, said it had suspended gas flowing along a pipeline to Russia because of construction work. Importantly it didn’t give an expected re-start date.

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(News report from Issue No. 168, published on Jan. 22 2014)

TANAP holds tender in Azerbaijan

JAN. 15 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — The consortium developing the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) invited applications to take part in a tender to build compressor, pressure and metering stations. Azerbaijan’s state energy company SOCAR and Turkey’s Botas and TPAO are developing TANAP which will pump gas from the Caspian Sea to the Turkish-Greek border.

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(News report from Issue No. 168, published on Jan. 22 2014)

Azerbaijan halts oil exports via Russia

DEC. 5 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan will halt all its oil exports via Russia in February, an official for the Azerbaijani state energy company SOCAR told Reuters. Azerbaijani-Russian relations have become increasingly strained and over the past few years Azerbaijan has shift most of its oil exports to Europe via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline.

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(News report from Issue No. 164, published on Dec. 11 2013)

Turkey takes larger share in TANAP

DEC. 10 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkey will take a larger stake in the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) running from the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea to Europe, said Rovnag Abdullayev, head of Azerbaijan’s state energy company SOCAR. Statoil and Total will be offered smaller stakes to accommodate Turkey’s ambitions.

(News report from Issue No. 164, published on Dec. 11 2013)

Azerbaijan-sourced pipeline approved in Greece

DEC. 2 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Greek parliament ratified a deal to build the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) which will connect Turkey with Italy and send Azerbaijani gas to the EU. The Greek parliament’s ratification is important as it keeps TAP on track for a construction start in 2015.

(News report from Issue No. 163, published on Dec. 4 2013)

Uztransgaz’s head sacked

NOV. 20 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Uzbek government fired the head of its gas pipeline monopoly Uztransgaz, Tulyagan Jurayev, less than a month after the head of Uzbekneftegas, the state energy company, was also sacked. It’s unclear why Mr Jurayev was sacked. Analysts said it may be part of a power struggle in Uzbekistan.

(News report from Issue No. 161, published on Nov. 20 2013)

Kazakhstan signs oil deal with Russia

NOV. 11 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Russia and Kazakhstan signed a preliminary deal to pump Russian oil through Kazakh pipelines to China. Russia’s pipeline network is full while Kazakhstan has spare capacity.

(News report from Issue No. 160, published on Nov. 13 2013)