Azerbaijan may open facility to refine Caspian oil in Ukraine
By Nigar Orujova
Ukrainian Energy and Coal Industry Minister Eduard Stavitskiy and Azerbaijani Industry and Energy Minister Natig Aliyev discussed the possibility of cooperation in Kiev, Ukrainian Energy Ministry reported on June 12.
During the working meeting, Ministers discussed the details of continuation of the Euro-Asian Oil Transportation Corridor (EOTC) joint project, Azerbaijani oil supply to the Ukrainian refineries and its transit to third country by the oil transportation system of Ukraine.
Stavitskiy and Aliyev also touched upon the implementation of joint projects of supplying Azerbaijani liquefied gas to Ukraine, in particular, construction of the LNG terminal in Ukraine and Ukraine's participation in the Azerbaijan-Georgia-Romania Interconnector project, as well as usage of the Ukraine gas transportation system to deliver Azerbaijani gas to Europe, which are planned using the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline (TANAP).
The operation of the Azerbaijani state energy company SOCAR's filling stations network in Ukraine, provision of SOCAR services for refueling Ukrainian vessels, as well as construction of a new oil-refining complex for deep processing of Caspian oil on the Black Sea coast of Ukraine were also discussed at the meeting.
SOCAR, the only producer of oil products in the country, owns gas-filling stations in Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine and Romania and has a network of gas stations in Switzerland.
SOCAR Ukraine aims to improve the network of petrol filling stations and organize wholesale of petrol and oil products in the territory of the country. Some 50 specialists are employed at SOCAR Energy Ukraine to ensure the SOCAR projects' effective implementation in Ukraine.
Thirty-four gas stations operate under the SOCAR brand in Kiev, Odessa, Lviv, Nikolaevsk and Rovensk regions of Ukraine. SOCAR Ukraine plans to increase the number of gas stations in Ukraine under the company's brand to 100 in 2013.
SOCAR has representative offices in Georgia, Turkey, Romania, Austria, Switzerland, Kazakhstan, Britain, Iran, Germany and Ukraine, as well as trading companies in Switzerland, Singapore, Vietnam, Nigeria and other countries.