Azernews.Az

Azerbaijan's state oil company SOCAR plans to buy a "substantial" stake in an Italian oil refinery in 2010, its executive was quoted by Reuters as saying on Wednesday.
Valery Golovushkin, CEO of SOCAR Trading SA, a SOCAR subsidiary company in Switzerland, said the company continues holding talks on the issue.
"We are presently looking to buy a refinery in Europe. For example, we are holding talks on such a project in Italy. We are interested in purchasing the controlling stock to be able to partake in decision-making," Golovushkin told reporters on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Petroleum Conference (APPEC) in Singapore.
Golovushkin said buying a refinery abroad is appropriate in terms of proper risk management.
Asked whether or not the plans are linked to Italian ENI’s announcement in October that it would sell its plant in Livorno, the SOCAR official declined comment, citing confidentiality of the issue.
SOCAR, which already runs a representation in Kyiv, earlier said it was negotiating a purchase of the controlling stock in the Kherson Oil Refinery, Ukraine’s third-biggest.
Golovushkin said SOCAR will raise the proportion of Azeri Light crude exports under term contracts to 80-85 percent of its total shipments to Asia in 2010, which will stay at 5-6 million barrels a month, versus 60 percent this year.
Total oil exports to world markets amount to 25m barrels a month. Thus, most of exported Azeri crude is bought by the United States and European countries.
"Asia is a good market for us," said Golovushkin. "Our office in Singapore is operating with a view to forging a long-term relationship with Asian companies. We currently have two traders here but are looking for professional traders to increase this number."
Azerbaijan produces most of its oil from the major Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli fields in the Caspian Sea. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) main export pipeline, which runs through Georgia and Turkey, is transporting ACG oil.*