Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan Plan to Boost Oil Transit Through BTC Pipeline by 2027

Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan are considering increasing crude oil transit through the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline to 7 million metric tons annually by 2027, according to Azerbaijan’s energy minister.

(Reuters) — Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan are considering increasing oil transit volumes through the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline to 7 million metric tons a year by 2027, Azerbaijani Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov said on Oct. 14.

“Since 2023, 3.4 million tons of Kazakh oil have been transported to global markets via the BTC pipeline. Opportunities are being considered to raise annual transit volumes to 7 million tons by 2027,” Shahbazov told the 21st meeting of the Azerbaijan–Kazakhstan intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation.

Azerbaijan's oil exports via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline fell to 18.4 million tons in the January-August period, a decline of 5.3% from a year earlier. In July, organic chloride contamination was discovered in Azeri BTC crude cargoes, causing several days' delay in loadings from Turkey's Ceyhan terminal.

Kazakhstan plans to export 1.7 million tons of oil through BTC by the end of this year, the same as in 2024.

The BTC pipeline, which runs through Georgia to Turkey, is used to export oil from the Azeri, Chirag and Guneshli oilfields, which are operated by BP.

Azerbaijan's total oil transit in the first eight months of the year amounted to 24.6 million tons, of which 74.7% was shipped through the BTC, according to the country's statistics committee.

The volume of transit oil sourced from other countries, such as Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, via the BTC fell to 2.887 million tons from 3.584 million tons in the same period of 2024, the data showed.