SOCAR: ‘War in Ukraine led to growing interest in Kazakhstan in utilizing infrastructure in Azerbaijan as an alternative’ 

The war in Ukraine has led to growing interest in Kazakhstan in utilizing infrastructure in Azerbaijan as an alternative, Deputy Vice President of SOCAR, Vitaly Baylarbayov, told S&P Global Commodity Insights June 20, Report informs.

According to him, Azerbaijan expects to ship an additional 1.5 million mt of crude oil, equivalent to around 30,123 b/d, from Kazakhstan in 2023, compared with 2022.

Baylarbayov added that from the beginning, the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline was built with extra capacity and was always designed to ship oil from Kazakhstan and other Central Asian states.

Combined with existing volumes of crude from Kazakhstan supplied via the route, Baylarbayov does not see total volumes exceeding 2 million mt/year in 2023.

"But the capacity which we can offer is much higher than that and we can talk almost immediately, without substantial investments, of the ability to transship 15 million mt of crude oil," Baylarbayov said. “To increase capacity beyond this, Azerbaijan sees the need for significant additional investment, which will require long-term commitments from buyers.”