BAKU — Azerbaijan’s State Statistical Committee (SSC) has reported a significant increase in oil pipeline losses during the first half of 2024, with losses rising by 29.4% compared to the previous year.

According to Azeri-Press News Agency, the SSC stated that 2.2 thousand tons of oil were lost in pipelines from January to June this year, up from 1.7 thousand tons during the same period last year. Despite the losses, oil transportation through pipelines saw a 2.1% increase on an annual basis, with 19,238.6 thousand tons of oil transported.

The majority of this transportation, 75.2%, was conducted through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil export pipeline. However, oil transferred through the BTC pipeline during the reporting period totaled 14,468.7 thousand tons, marking a 3.7% decrease compared to the previous year.

In 2023, Azerbaijan experienced a total oil pipeline loss of 3.8 thousand tons, reflecting a 31% increase compared to the previous year. That year, 39,753.2 thousand tons of oil were transported via the main oil pipelines, representing a 5.2% year-on-year increase. Of this, 75.9% was transported through the BTC pipeline, which saw a slight 1.49% increase in oil transfer compared to 2022.