Russia offering new oil transit deal
Representatives of Azerbaijan and Russia will hold
talks on the possible signing of a new inter-governmental agreement
on the delivery of Azerbaijani oil through Russia, Russian Energy
Minister Sergei Shmatko said after a meeting of the joint
commission on economic cooperation in Baku.
The inter-governmental agreement on the transportation of Azerbaijani oil via the Baku-Novorossiysk northern route pipeline was signed in 1996. The transit fee was set at $15.67 per ton.
"The tariff issue is the most important," Shmatko said, noting that Russia was not satisfied with the current fee.
"We have provided the Azerbaijani side with new proposals, and they are under consideration now," he said.
The agreed volume to be delivered through the Baku-Novorossiysk pipeline for this year is 2.5 million tons. The 1996 agreement envisaged the transportation of up to 5m tons per year.
Until 2008, the pipeline had been operated by the BP-run consortium AIOC, which then reassigned it to Azerbaijan`s state oil company SOCAR. Partners in AIOC initially had no plans to transport oil through the conduit, but due to the unrest in Georgia in August 2008 and the standstill of the BTC pipeline exporting Azerbaijan`s crude via the neighboring South Caucasus republic, the AIOC partners had to resume transits.
The inter-governmental agreement on the transportation of Azerbaijani oil via the Baku-Novorossiysk northern route pipeline was signed in 1996. The transit fee was set at $15.67 per ton.
"The tariff issue is the most important," Shmatko said, noting that Russia was not satisfied with the current fee.
"We have provided the Azerbaijani side with new proposals, and they are under consideration now," he said.
The agreed volume to be delivered through the Baku-Novorossiysk pipeline for this year is 2.5 million tons. The 1996 agreement envisaged the transportation of up to 5m tons per year.
Until 2008, the pipeline had been operated by the BP-run consortium AIOC, which then reassigned it to Azerbaijan`s state oil company SOCAR. Partners in AIOC initially had no plans to transport oil through the conduit, but due to the unrest in Georgia in August 2008 and the standstill of the BTC pipeline exporting Azerbaijan`s crude via the neighboring South Caucasus republic, the AIOC partners had to resume transits.
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