Azerbaijan ships 80,000 T of oil via Russia in Jan

BAKU: Azerbaijan's state oil company SOCAR shipped 80,000 tonnes of oil via Russia in January, almost the same amount as in January last year, when it shipped 79,935 tonnes, the company said on Wednesday.

SOCAR aims to reduce its oil export volumes via Russia to 1.35 million tonnes in 2018 from 1.5 million tonnes in 2017.

Last year's rise from 1.3 million tonnes a year earlier was partly because SOCAR shipped no oil via the Baku-Novorossiisk pipeline in January and February in 2016. It resumed after signing a deal with Russian pipeline monopoly AK Transneft .

Azerbaijan sends only a small portion of its oil exports via Russia, using routes through Georgia and Turkey for the bulk of its crude shipments.

SOCAR's crude has a lower sulphur content than Russia's Urals blend. The company receives crude from Transneft to fill its loading slots at the Novorossiisk oil terminal.