SOCAR interested in working on land in Russia
Azerbaijan's State Oil Company SOCAR and Russia's Rosneft are considering the possibility of participating in joint projects both in Azerbaijan and in Russia, SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev said on July 10.
He said the discussions were held between the companies both at St. Petersburg International Economic Forum and during a meeting in Baku.
Speaking about the interests of SOCAR, Abdullayev said the company is interested in working on land in Russia and below the Caspian Sea.
Referring to the issue of continuing the transit of Azerbaijani oil through Russia via the Baku-Novorossiysk pipeline, Abdullayev said that commercial negotiations with the Russian company Transneft are on-going and the final results will be clear by late this year
The contract on the transit of Azerbaijani oil through Russian territory, which had been in effect for 17 years, was revoked in early May.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed an order to revoke the intergovernmental agreement, which envisaged transportation of 5 million tons a year of Azerbaijani oil via the Baku-Novorossiysk pipeline for a price of $15.67 per ton of oil transit. The Russian government explained the decision with considerable loss.
Azerbaijan International Operating Company (AIOC) was the operator of the Baku-Novorossiysk pipeline before the end of 2007. AIOC transferred these functions to SOCAR.
SOCAR carries out the transhipment of oil from its own fields, as well that of joint ventures and operating companies working onshore in Azerbaijan through Novorossiysk
The supply of oil via the Baku-Novorossiysk pipeline will be continued in accordance with the agreement till 2014.