KazMunayGas negotiating resumption of oil supplies via BTC pipeline - Kazakh Energy Ministry
ASTANA. Aug 27 (Interfax) - KazMunayGas is negotiating the resumption of oil supplies via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, Kazakh Energy Minister Yerlan Akkenzhenov said.
"There was a report about the suspension [of transit of Kazakh oil via BTC]. Now KazMunayGas is negotiating the earliest possible resumption of transportation via this route. The capacity of the BTC is 50 million tonnes per year; current pumping is about 25 million tonnes. There are opportunities to fulfill the plans; the capacity allows it. If shippers [from Kazakhstan] have an economic interest, oil will always be found," Akkenzhenov told journalists on Wednesday.
As reported, force majeure on the BTC was declared after the detection of organochlorine compounds in the Azeri Light crude oil grade, which disrupted exports to the Mediterranean. Oil supplies from Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan via the BTC ceased from the end of July. BP, a shareholder of the BTC operator, said that it was working on solving the problem together with partners in Azerbaijan and Turkey.
Kazakhstan has been increasing supplies via the BTC in recent years as part of export diversification. In 2023, around 1.1 million tonnes of oil were shipped from the port of Aktau towards Azerbaijan; in 2024, the figure was 1.4 million tonnes. It was planned that the figure would increase to 1.7 million tonnes in 2025. Exports amounted to around 800,000 tonnes in 6M 2025.
Although only a small part of Kazakhstan's total exports is supplied via the BTC, this route still has strategic importance against the backdrop of periodic disruptions in the operations of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), S&P Global previously said.
The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline pumps oil from the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli field block and condensate from the Shah Deniz field, as well as oil from the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijani Republic (SOCAR). Oil from a number of other countries in the Caspian Sea region was also pumped through the pipeline. The capacity of the BTC is over 50 million tonnes of oil per year.
