Page 15 - FSUOGM Week 02 2021

FSUOGM PIPELINES & TRANSPORT FSUOGM

Belarus pens deal for

Azeri oil supplies

BELARUS BELARUS has clinched a new deal to obtain differences with Moscow over oil and gas sup-
oil supplies from Azerbaijan, Russia’s RIA news plies last year. Belarusian President Alexander
The shipments are agency reported on December 31. Lukashenko is now warier of challenging Russia
made via Ukraine. A one-year contract was signed by state- over energy supply terms since having had to
owned Belarusian Oil Co. and Azerbaijan’s reach out to the Kremlin for support in the face
national oil company (NOC) SOCAR, RIA of mass protests over his "re-election" in August.
reported, without specifying how much crude Belarus’ relations with Lithuania have
would be delivered. SOCAR’s trading unit sup- meanwhile soured over the latter’s support for
plied Belarusian Oil with some 1mn tonnes the Belarusian opposition and its imposing of
(20,000 barrels per day) of oil in 2020, according sanctions against the Lukashenko regime. Bela-
to RIA. rusian Oil temporarily suspended oil product
Belarus’ two oil refineries in Mozyr and Nov- shipments via the Lithuanian port of Klaipeda
opolotsk are a bedrock of its economy, cheaply in mid-December. Authorities in Minsk have
producing oil products that can be exported to suggested the country’s products could be redi-
European markets at a significant premium. The rected to Russia’s Baltic ports.
country gets almost all its oil from Russia, but Belarus may be able to begin the export of oil
pricing disputes with Moscow in recent years products via Russia this year, Russian Deputy
have led it to seek out alternative supplies. Prime Minister Alexander Novak told reporters
Russia halted oil supplies altogether at the on January 4.
start of 2020, with Belarus resorting to high- “I think 2021 is a very realistic timeframe for
er-price deliveries from Azerbaijan, Norway, deliveries to begin,” Novak said in an interview
Saudi Arabia and the US instead. Supplies from on the RBC news channel. The former energy
Azerbaijan are loaded onto tankers and shipped minister said in September that Belarusian deliv-
to the Ukrainian port of Odesa and then dis- eries could reach 4-6mn tonnes per year (tpy),
patched to Belarus via pipeline. making use of spare capacity at ports in north-
It is a question of how much Azeri crude west Russia, including Primorsk, Saint Peters-
Belarus now needs, as Minsk patched up its burg and Ust-Luga. ™

Transneft resumes Kazakh oil flow

following 12-hour disruption

RUSSIA RUSSIAN oil transport operator Transneft the Uzen-Atyrau-Samara system, which runs
resumed Kazakh oil transits via the Atyrau-Sa- across the Mangistau, Atyrau and West Kazakh-
A power outage at an mara pipeline on the evening of January 11, after stan regions and into southern Russia. Trans-
oil pumping station was a 12-hour disruption caused by a weather-re- neft also transits Kazakh oil from Kazakhstan’s
caused by cold weather. lated power outage. Aktobe region to Salavat in the Russian province
“At 16:58 Moscow time, oil began to flow of Bashkortostan. Total transit volumes averaged
from Kazakhstan,” Transneft said in a morning nearly 330,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2020, up
statement on January 12. “As the stations were 1% year on year.
connected during the night and this morning, The bulk of this oil ends up in Russia’s Baltic port
there was a gradual increase in the [pumping] of Ust-Luga, while some is also delivered to Euro-
regime. It is planned to enter the normal mode pean customers via the Druzhba pipeline system.
this afternoon.” Kazakhstan sends significantly more oil
Supplies via the Atyrau-Samara route were through Russia using the Caspian Pipeline
halted at 05:00 Moscow time on January 11, Consortium (CPC) route, which is separate to
following severe frost in northern Kazakhstan, Transneft's system and terminates in the Black
which led to a power outage at an oil pumping Sea port of Novorossiysk. Kazakh shipments via
station. A Transneft representative said at the CPC totalled 51.8mn tonnes (1.04mn bpd) in
time that repair work was likely to take no more 2020. Kazakhstan’s largest field Tengiz supplied
than three days, and that the company did not 531,000 bpd of this volume, while Kashagan pro-
plan to redirect flows to an alternative route. vided 287,000 bpd and Karachaganak 211,000
The Atyrau-Samara pipeline forms part of bpd. ™

Week 02 13•January•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P15