Suez Canal's closure does not affect SOCAR operations - STATEMENT

The closure of the Suez Canal has almost no effect on the operations of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), Ibrahim Ahmadov, deputy head of SOCAR's Public Relations and Events Department, told Report.

According to him, in terms of sales of Azerbaijani oil, the company's primary target market is the countries of Europe and the Mediterranean: "Azerbaijani oil is also sent to the east from time to time, but these days our tanker has not been planned in that direction yet."

The SOCAR official said that although the transportation of oil from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean via Suez has decreased, the properties of this oil differ from our oil:

"Therefore, the current situation will not directly affect the demand for Azerbaijani oil. Currently, the need for oil due to the pandemic remains relatively low. It seems that oil refineries in Europe are still satisfied with the existing volumes. Thus, the situation has not yet touched the oil market, except for rising freight prices. If the situation is resolved in the coming days, there will probably be no problems in the medium term."

The length of the Ever Given cargo vessel is 400 meters. The ship, with a carrying capacity of 224,000 tons, was heading from China to the Netherlands. On March 24, it ran aground on the 151st km of the canal.

The Suez Canal, which connects the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, is located between Europe and Asia. It is 160 km long, 250 meters wide, and 20 meters deep. About 50 ships pass through the canal every day.