Big Kazakh oil shipments through Azerbaijan

New possibilities are appearing for large quantities of Kazakh oil to be transported via Azerbaijan through the South Caucasus corridor.

On June 1 SOCAR and Kazmunai gas announced a tender for a feasibility study into the transport of Kazakh oil to Azerbaijan. The oil would be transported by tanker between the Kurik terminal and Baku, and from there to world markets via Azerbaijan and Georgia. Oil transported to Baku by tanker could be transported by the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan or Baku-Supsa pipelines or the Baku-Batumi, Baku-Poti or Baku-Kulevi railways.

Since the end of 2008 Kazakh oil has been transported through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. Since May 2010 it has also been transported by rail by the Baku-Kulevi route.

The Baku shipbuilding factory, which is being built now and will start functioning at the end of 2012, will build large and medium-sized tankers which will eventually transport Kazakh oil to Azerbaijan.