The transportation of oil

There are three main oil pipelines operating to transport oil from Azerbaijan to the neighbouring countries and world markets:

• Baku-Novorossiysk pipeline;
• Western Route Export Pipeline or Baku-Supsa pipeline;
• Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline   

In addition, the Kulevi Terminal, with a loading and unloading capacity of 10 million tons, and the Dubendi Terminal, with a throughput capacity of 20 million tons, are used for the transportation, reception, storage, and export of oil and oil products.

Baku-Novorossiysk pipeline

The Baku-Novorossiysk pipeline is a transport line that transports Azerbaijani oil to foreign markets through the territory of Russia and has been operating since 1983. The pipeline was used to transport crude oil to Baku from Grozny for processing. Construction was carried out on the pipeline for export from Azerbaijan to the Russian port of Novorossiysk and put into operation in 1997. The transmission capacity of this pipeline is 100,000 barrels per day (13,500 tons/day). The total length of the pipeline is 1,330 km, 231 km of which is located in the territory of Azerbaijan. The oil pipeline has 3 pumping stations (Sangachal, Sumgayit and Siyazan). The metering station of the pipeline is located in Shirvanovka.

Western Route Export Pipeline

According to the agreement signed between Azerbaijan and Georgia in 1996, the construction of the Western Route Export Pipeline or Baku-Supsa pipeline was completed in 1998 and put into operation in April 1999. t was planned to transport the first oil extracted from the Azeri, Chirag and Guneshli fields to the Supsa port on the Black Sea coast of Georgia. The length of the pipeline is 833 km, of which 456 km is in Azerbaijani territory. The transmission capacity of the pipeline is 150,000 barrels per day (20,000 tons/day).

Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline

Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) is the main export oil pipeline providing direct access of Azerbaijani oil to the foreign market. The BTC Pipeline’s construction, which began in April 2003, was completed in 2005. The pipeline was named in honour of National Leader Heydar Aliyev. The first oil tanker was loaded at Ceyhan port on 4 June 2006. The pipeline was primarily intended to transport oil extracted from ACG fields to the port of Ceyhan on the Mediterranean coast of Türkiye, but this pipeline has been also used to transport Kazakhstan`s and Turkmenistan`s crude oil. BTC pipeline with a total length of 1768 km runs through the territory of three countries: Azerbaijan (443 km), Georgia (249 km) and Türkiye (1076 km). Transmission capacity of this pipeline is 1.2 million barrels (160,000 tons/day).

Transportation by railway (Baku-Kulevi/ Batumi)

After the repair and restoration work on the Baku-Batumi railway built in 1883, the transportation of crude oil by SOCAR to the Port of Batumi on the Black Sea coast of Georgia began in 1999. This route is actively used for transportation of oil extracted from Tengiz and other fields of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan`s oil products in recent years, along with oil extracted from ACG fields belonging to companies not included in the list of founders of BTC pipeline and gas condensate extracted from Shah Deniz field.

The Baku-Kulevi route, which was commissioned in 2008, is used to transport Azerbaijani and Turkmenistan`s oil products, as well as oil extracted from Kazakhstan's Tengiz field to the Kulevi port on the Black Sea coast of Georgia.