SOCAR To Discuss Oil Exports To Slovakia And Czech Republic
SOCAR’s Deputy Vice President in charge of oil exports Vitaly Beylarbayov told Trendon 25 July that the state oil company of Azerbaijan has initiated discussions with Czech and Slovak refineries regarding the possibility of receiving Azerbaijani crude oil exports. Mr Beylarbayov said: “The negotiations with the Czech and Slovak parties on the delivery of Azerbaijani oil are at a preliminary stage. Of course, there is mutual interest and technical capabilities. It is necessary to turn this interest into a commercial agreement.” Beylarbayov noted that around 45% of SOCAR exports are sold in the Mediterranean and around 20% in North America while the remaining 35% is directed to Georgia, Turkey and Ukraine.
The senior SOCAR executive said that the company has been studying all alternative export routes that would allow it “to diversify more the energy transportation routes by 2016.” The most obvious choice is the full commercialization of the Sarmatia oil project that is based on the Odessa-Brody oil pipeline and could be expanded as far west as Poland, Germany and Central Europe to include Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary. In April 2011 Sarmatia’s CEO, Sergiy Skrypka, announced that an extension of the Odessa-Brody pipeline to the Polish pipeline system in Adamowo could cost around €577mn of which €125mn would come from the EU’s Infrastructure and Environment Operational Program.
Copyright MEES 2011.
