AZERBAIJAN: BAKU WANTS TO STORE OIL IN SOUTH KOREA

Eurasianet

9/21/09

Azerbaijan’s state oil company (SOCAR) is in negotiations with
South Korean entities to gain access to a 22-million-ton oil storage
facility. SOCAR would use the depot as an oil distribution hub for
Southeast Asia.

SOCAR Vice President Elshad Nasirov said that he hopes that most of
Azerbaijan’s oil exports to Southeast Asia will be collected in the
South Korean facility. "[T]hen we will sell oil, in small and large
volumes, to nearby countries," Nasirov was quoted by the Anspress
news service as saying on September 21.

Nasirov added that even if Seoul agrees to grant access to the
facility, its capacity is not sufficient for all of Azerbaijan’s
exports. Exact numbers for those exports and SOCAR’s production
volumes were not immediately available. In April, Nasirov revealed
that roughly 20 percent of SOCAR’s oil output goes to Asia.

SOCAR produced a little less than 800,000 tons of oil in August
2009; it has set an annual production target of 8.7 million tons for
this year, the Azerbaijan Business Center news service reported on
September 18.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress