Azerbaijan has “ambitious strategic energy” projects, Butkevičius said after the meeting with Azeri President Ilham Aliyev in Baku on Monday.
“They have possibilities to supply petroleum products up to Ukraine; a pipeline for the supply of petroleum product has been built. Their plans also include the extension of oil supply to Belarus – to invest up to Belarus, as well as to enter the entire European market at a later stage,” Butkevičius said in a press release issued by the prime minister’s office.
In 2012, Azerbaijan exported 29.7 million tons of oil through the pipeline connecting it with the port of Ceyhan in Turkey, which was the country’s main oil export route last year.
Baku also exports oil – although on a much lesser scale - through the pipelines connecting it with Novorossiysk (Russia) and Supsa (Georgia). The country also ships its oil to Georgia’s ports by rail.
Azerbaijan also has two oil refineries that have a combined annual refining capacity of 22 million tons. Both of them are controlled by the national oil company Socar.
