Kazakhstan will be able to increase oil supplies via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, subject to changes in the quality of raw materials, Deputy Director General for Transportation of KazTransOil JSC Eric Sagiyev told reporters on Wednesday.

“If Kazakhstan succeeds in successfully negotiating a change in the oil quality bank for the pumping system, in this case, I believe that pumping will increase for Kazakhstan,” Sagiyev said.

He clarified that due to the presence of the so-called “bottleneck” in the pipeline, pumping of Kazakh – heavy – oil is complicated. “Due to the fact that only Azerbaijani light oil is pumped through the BTC system, which differs from Kazakhstan, accordingly, the question arises about the quality bank,” Sagiyev said.

He recalled that an agreement was reached between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan on the transportation of 1.5 million tons of oil in 2023 through the BTC. Currently, these volumes are being shipped from the resources of ‘Tengizchevroil.’

The total volume of oil pumping through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline in 2022 amounted to 29 million 749.6 thousand tons, by 12.6% more than in 2021, including transit oil – 5 million 103.9 thousand tons (an increase of 41.8%).

Source: Turan News Agency