Azerbaijan and Russia discuss oil transfers

Rovnag Abdullayev, President of the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR), said that specialists of his company and Russia’s Transneft, managing company of the Russian pipeline system, were negotiating transit of Azerbaijani oil through Russia, Trend reports.

He noted that the SOCAR was having losses because its oil was sold under the URALS brand after transfer to Russia.

Abdullayev said that they will discuss all issues related to further transfers of oil through the Baku-Novorossiysk Pipeline. Oil transfers through the pipeline will continue until the end of the year.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed the order to conclude the transit deal of Russia and Azerbaijan last week.

The Azerbaijani International Operational Company, controlled by BP-Azerbaijan, was operating the pipeline until late 2007. The SOCAR exported 1.99 million tons of oil through the pipeline in 2011 and 2.06 million tons in 2012.