Kazakhstan sees no profit in purchase of lubricants from Azerbaijan
By Aynur Jafarova
Purchase of lubricants from Azerbaijan is unprofitable for Kazakhstan, a senior official of the Kazakh Energy Ministry told Trend Agency.
“The process is arranged in a way that purchase of lubricants
from Azerbaijan is unprofitable for us. It is more expensive than
we would have bought from Russia,” the source noted.
Earlier the ministry said Kazakhstan intends to purchase lubricants
from Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan to cover shortage of petroleum
products in the domestic market due to the reduction of supplies
from the traditional supplier, Russia.
“Calculations have shown that the supplies from Azerbaijan increase
the cost of fuel. If you can buy something cheaper, naturally you
won’t waste your money to buy it more expensive,” the source
added.
Meanwhile, another source told Trend that the statement of Kazakh
Energy Ministry was "nothing more than just a statement intended to
show that Kazakhstan is not so heavily dependent on Russia for the
supply of fuel."
Kazakhstan buys around 30 percent of lubricants, in particular
high-octane gasoline from neighboring Russia. This paves the way
for the heavy dependence of Kazakh market on the Russian petroleum
product market.
Kazakhstan concluded an agreement to supply 3,000 tons of AI-92
gasoline from Azerbaijan. The agreement on gasoline supply was
signed in October with international Lanturno Management S.A.
Company, which will carry out the delivery of the Azerbaijani fuel
through the Russian territory.
Kazakhstan has already paid the full cost of the contracted oil
products, but the shipping and delivery of gasoline are yet to be
implemented.
Kazakh Energy Ministry said earlier that it was holding talks to
supply AI-92 gasoline from Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Belarus, China
and other countries.
Kazakhstan has some oil refineries, which are located in Shymkent (country's southern part), Atyrau (western part) and Pavlodar (northern part). The total processing capacity of them is 13 million tons per year.
According to the forecasts, the gasoline production in Kazakhstan in 2014 will amount to 2,885 million metric tons, while the consumption is expected to reach 4,168 million metric tons.
Kazakhstan is currently upgrading all of its oil refineries. The process is scheduled to be completed in 2016. After the upgrade, Kazakhstan's need in light petroleum products will be fully met.