Azernews.Az

Kazakhstan's state oil and gas company KazMunaiGas is still interested in the Baku-Supsa pipeline, the company's first deputy board chairman, Daniyar Berlibayev, has said.

"We have always been interested in the Baku-Supsa pipeline," he said in an interview with the Baku-based Trend news agency. "We have always considered the pipeline as an alternative route."

The 827 kilometer Baku-Supsa pipeline, which runs from the Sangachal Terminal near the Azerbaijani capital Baku to the Supsa terminal in Georgia, pumps Azerbaijani light oil produced from the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) block of fields, operated by BP. The transportation capacity of the BP-operated pipeline is more than 6 million tons per year.

Berlibayev stressed that Kazakhstan plans to extract up to 125 million tons of oil per year in the future, adding that it has always had an interest in entering the Black Sea market.

Berlibayev previously said Kazakhstan will transport about 64 million tons of oil per year to the Black Sea region after industrial development of the Kashagan field starts.

"Regarding the Baku-Supsa pipeline, everything will depend on the volumes of extracted oil," Berlibayev said.

He added that Kazakhstan is still delivering its oil to the Black Sea ports of Batumi and Kulevi by railway.