SOCAR AND BTC CO. DISCUSS KAZAKH OIL

Baku, IAA "Trend" April 26 corr. R.Abbasov

Private oil traders active in Azerbaijan are in talks with the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) and BTC Co. operating company on participation in the transportation of bulk Kazakh oil schedule for 2007, Tahir Gezel, a representative of the Arabian company Middle East Petrol.

"BTC Co. Is against monopoly in delivery of bulk Kazakh oil in Azerbaijan and helps the traders to get profits. We must agree upon with SOCAR, which leases terminal, on the growing volumes of Kazakh oil with regard to determine the work areas," he stressed.

Middle East Petrol operates the Azerbaijani oil terminal with discharge capacity of 10 million tons oil and oil products a year and has been involved in transport service deliveries in transit of oil and oil products from Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. A local company Azpetrol, possessing the terminal with the same capacity in Baku and Sangachal is also involved in the same activities.

BTC Co, supervising the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline project, comprises for oil companies active in Kazakhstan (ConocoPhillips, Eni, Total and Inpex), which guarantee to fulfill the pipeline after commencement of oil production from the Kazakh oil field Kashagan. In the initial phase oil transportation to Azerbaijan will be carried out by tankers.

According to Gezel, oil production in the Caspian region will reach 20-30 million tons of oil starting in 2007 or 2008 and will require establishment of a necessary infrastructure in world markets. "In this connection Middle East plans to expand Dubendi terminal, or even construct a new one till 2010," Gezel said.

At present the discharge capacity of the Dubendi terminal in 150,000 200,000 tons of crude from Kazakhstan a month and 50,000 - 70,000 tons of oil products from Turkmenistan.