Overview of Oil Infrastructure in Azerbaijan

=Overview=

According to a 2012 report by Baker Hughes, the role of Azerbaijan as a transit country is almost as important as its role as a producing country. Azerbaijan plays a key role in the Southern Corridor being opened up for gas export from the region to European markets.

In contrast to the upstream segment of the industry, the majority of the downstream segment in Azerbaijan is operated by domestic businesses, above all under the auspices of state oil company SOCAR.



=Terminals=

Azerbaijan is home to one of the world's largest oil and gas processing terminals in the Sangachal terminal (capacity of 1.2 million barrels per day). In addition the Dubedi oil terminal, located around 50 kilometres north-east of Baku and has a capacity of around 10 million tons per annum (around 196,000 barrels per day). Dubendi receives oil and ships it to refining plants, as well as exporting it to the North.

Another important terminal for export of oil produced in Azerbaijan is also the Kulevi terminal in Georgia, acquired by SOCAR in 2006, where oil and petroleum products are stored and loaded into terminals.

=Pipelines=

As of August 2012, the possible export routes by pipeline for oil and gas produced from Azerbaijan's fields were:

Alternatively, oil can be transported by rail to the Georgian ports of Batumi or Kulevi, or by tanker across the Caspian Sea to Turkmenistan or Kazakhstan.

=Refineries=

According to the US' Energy Information Administration (EIA), the country's refineries, including the Heydar Aliyev Refinery, are in need of modernisation, which the Azerbaijani government estimates will cost between US $600 million and US $700 million. A $500 million modernization project was approved in 2004, with new equipment to be installed at the refineries and at the specialized port of Dubendi to increase production levels to 260,000 bpd by 2010.

The project to build an Oil and Gas Processing & Petrochemical Complex near Baku, to be fully operational by 2020, envisages an oil refinery (capable of processing 10 million tonnes of crude oil per year) and a gas processing plant (with an annual capacity of 10 billion cubic metres, rising to 15 billion cubic metres).

=External Links=

SOCAR: Export Options

=References=