Azerbaijan increases its tanker fleet

Azeri President Ilham Aliev stated recently that his country had bought big supertankers from Russia able to transport 20 million tonnes of oil and oil products. To a certain extend these could provide an alternative to laying pipes in the Caspian Sea bed.

Aliev thinks that Azerbaijan has built all the pipes it needs for itself and there is no need for extra pipelines. The country has three for transporting the oil, one through Russia, one to the Black Sea terminal at Supsa and another to Turkey's Ceyhan which passes through Georgia. It also has four natural gas pipelines going to neighboring countries.

Aliev suggests that any kind of pipeline construction in the region will be initiated by forces interested in Azerbaijan's new potential. He said that many statements and political speculations were being made about NABUCCO and other projects but little actual activity was taking place. He also stressed that new markets were sought by any country.