Transportation of oil from Kazakhstan’s Kashagan field via the Caspian Sea along the Aktau-Baku route has been launched for the first time, Azernews reports via the Azerbaijani Caspian Shipping Company (ASCO).
Oil is shipped along the new route by the Akademik Khoshbakht Yusifzada tanker, the company said.
In total, 6,900 tons of crude oil were loaded into the first batch.
“The tanker, departing from the Kazakh port of Aktau, will deliver oil to the Azerbaijani Sangachal terminal,” the company added.
Previously, KazTransOil, an oil pipeline company of Kazakhstan, announces its plans to carry out a trial shipment of 7,000 tons of oil from the Kashagan field in the Port of Aktau for its further delivery to the Port of Baku. The shipper of Kashagan oil is INPEX North Caspian Sea, Ltd.
Earlier, Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Alikhan Smailov said that the country will start transporting 1.5 million tons of oil through Azerbaijan in early 2023.
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev attended a ceremony to launch the “Academician Khoshbakht Yusifzade” tanker built at Baku Shipyard by the order of the “Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping” Closed Joint-Stock Company (ASCO) on December 7, 2022.
The total carrying capacity of the tanker is 7,800 tons. It can carry both oil and chemical products.