Azernews.Az

CARACAS – Venezuela could buy additional volumes of Azerbaijani oil to enforce its contract with Belarus on the supply of 10 million tons of crude per year, Venezuela's Ambassador to Belarus Americo Diaz Nunez told reporters via video link on Thursday.

President of the Azerbaijani state oil company SOCAR, Rovnag Abdullayev, said earlier that Azerbaijan would supply 5 million tons of crude to Belarus from this year, while Venezuela would deliver the same volume of crude to the United States instead of Azerbaijan.

According to Ambassador Nunez, Azerbaijani oil shipped to Belarus would have the same quality as Venezuela's Santa Barbara Light Oil. "It could happen that Venezuela will not be able to produce 10 million tons of oil, which is in demand across the world, or transport problems could arise," Nunez warned.

If that is the case, Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA will buy oil from Azerbaijan to bring the annual amount supplied to Belarus to 10 million tons, according to the ambassador.

Belarus would receive this volume of crude through the Odessa-Brody pipeline and would pay Azerbaijan only for its transportation.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said during a visit to Belarus last October that his country would sell 30m tons of oil to Belarus in 2011-13, adding that the three-year supply contract was estimated at around $19.4 billion.