Kazakhstan is trying to reduce reliance on Russia with regard to its energy exports, as most of Kazakhstan's flow of 1.5 million barrels per day or 1.5% of global supply go via various Russian pipelines.
"We are currently conducting negotiations with the Kazakh side about increasing oil transit from this country to 5-7 million tonnes," said Zaur Gakhramanov, an adviser to SOCAR's president.
Azerbaijan plans to open an oil terminal this summer after reconstruction work in Dubendi near the capital Baku, Gakhramanov said, with a transit capacity of 10 million tonnes of oil per year, thereby increasing the country's overall transit capacity to 20-25 million tonnes.
Last year, the transit of Kazakh oil through Azerbaijan amounted to 1.4 million tonnes. That is projected to increase to 1.7-1.8 million tonnes this year and 2.2 million tonnes in 2025, according to SOCAR.
In March, SOCAR and Kazakhstan's KazMunayGas (KMGZ.KZ), opens new tab signed an agreement to gradually increase the transportation volume of Kazakh oil through Azerbaijan's Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) system to 2.2 million tonnes.
There have also been talks about possibly transporting 5 million tonnes of Kazakh oil via the Baku-Supsa pipeline in 2023.
