MOSCOW- The Azeri BTC crude oil terminal in Turkey's Ceyhan port will resume the loading of very large crude carriers (VLCCs) after maintenance works on one of its berths in October, three trading sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.
"The fender replacement works will commence early this week and are estimated to take one month to complete... Following successful completion of the works the current VLCC restriction will be lifted", BP Azerbaijan, which controls the terminal, said in a letter sent to oil exporters and seen by Reuters.
BP Azerbaijan told Reuters that the works have already started and may take just two weeks.
"There’s no impact on production or export activities. The terminal has not stopped receiving tankers. Tanker loadings continue as normal from one berth", a BP Azerbaijan representative told Reuters.
The terminal, which currently loads Aframax and Suezmax vessels, restricted the loading of VLCCs in 2018 after tests showed defects in the berth's fenders, two traders familiar with the matter said.
The ability to load VLCC tankers from Ceyhan may come in handy for Azeri BTC crude oil exporters, some traders said, as current weak demand makes it reasonable to store volumes on water or do arbitrage shipments. In both cases using VLCC vessels is a cheaper option, traders added.
The premium for Azeri BTC crude oil averaged $1.56 per barrel in January-August 2020 compared to $2.54 per barrel for the same period of last year, Reuters data showed. BFO-AZR
The terminal has an export capacity of 50 million tonnes per year and is the end point of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline - the main export route for Azerbaijan oil.
(Reporting by Olga Yagova, additional reporting by Nailia Bagirova; Editing by Kirsten Donovan) ((Olga.Yagova@thomsonreuters.com;))
