Azeri oil to be transported by Baku-Cehan pipeline

SOCAR has said that the oil extracted by the AIOC from the developments in Azeri-Chirag and the deepwater parts of the Gyunleshi deposits, will be transported by the Baku-Ceyhan Main Export Pipeline. The company said that this decision has been made following provisions that have been determined by the terms of the contract signed by a consortium of companies in 1994.
According to the head of the foreign investment department, Valeh Aleskerov, "the PSA contract unambiguously states that the oil from the Azeri-Chirag-Gyuneshli deposits is to be transported via the export oil pipeline."

The MEP is a pipeline extending beyond Azerbaijan, with a capacity of at least 300,000 bpd. The western (Baku-Supsa) and northern (Baku-Novorossiysk) routes have been determined as pipelines for pumping 'early' oil, which is extracted from the Chirag-1 platform.
"I believe that this contract provides no possibility for various interpretations - all provisions have been fixed precisely enough," Aleskerov said. Aleskerov said he believes that 'statements by representatives of a number of oil companies on the inexpediency of the construction of the Baku-Ceyhan MEP are aimed at testing whether the Azerbaijani side is serious enough about observing the terms of the contract'.
Aleskerov also said that he noted some companies do not declare their support for an oil pipeline until a definite deadline in order to get more preferable terms for themselves.