Azerbaijan’s oil exports via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline fell to 18.4 million metric tons in the January-August period, a decline of 5.3% from a year earlier, Azerbaijani data showed, as the route was marred by tainted oil.

Organic chloride contamination in Azeri BTC crude cargoes was discovered in July, causing several days’ delay in loadings from Turkey’s BTC Ceyhan terminal.

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% were 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.
Source: Reuters