Azerbaijan did not notify Transneft about oil pumping volume for next year

Transneft is going to pump over 99% of oil in 2013. 125 companies have applied for oil pumping via the pipelines, Igor Demin, press officer of Russian Transneft company, said.

He said in 2013 Transneft will transport Azerbaijani oil via the Baku-Novorossiysk pipeline "on the basis of the residue principle." "We have not received official information about planned volume of oil pumping in 2013 from SOCAR," he added.

Transneft expects that in 2013 the volume of Azerbaijani oil pumping will be 1.6-2 million tons. Demin said that according to the intergovernmental agreement between Russia and Azerbaijan signed on January 18, 1996, Azerbaijan has committed itself to pump 5 million tons of oil a year. But since that time the volume of pumping has significantly changed, but the tariff has not been revised. "Considering that Baku-Novorossiysk pipeline passes through Dagestan and we need to take efforts to keep the pipeline in the working conditions in that area, the oil pipeline is on the verge of profitability now," Demin said.

A year ago Russia offered to revise transit rates for Azerbaijani oil pumping via Russia. However, Azerbaijani officials offered either to apply the oil quality bank, or to revise the intergovernmental agreement of January 18, 1996 and give Azerbaijan the right to pump oil of the third country. Judging by all, the sides failed to find the golden mean.

* During 2011 Transneft's oil pipelines received 474 million tons of oil, of which 452.5 million tons from the Russian makers. Last year SOCAR exported 1,996,400 tons of oil via the Baku-Novorossiysk pipeline.-0-