[EUROASIA] Ukraine Minister of Fuel and Energy: "We have no problems with supplies of Azerbaijani oil"

By the end of June the Ukraine Ministry of Fuel and Energy intends to complete talks on oil supplies to Europe by Odessa-Brody pipeline. After that the pipeline, which works in the reversed regime and pumps Russian oil to Odessa, will work directly.

According to head of Naftogaz Ukraini Olega Dubina, the issue of pumping 44,000 tons of light oil to Czech oil refinery in Kralup will be settled in May. "In order to go another direction, it is necessary to buy 485,000 tons of light oil and replace technological oil, which is what Ukrtransnafta engaged in", said Olega Dubina.

The Drogobich and Nadvornyanskiy oil refineries stated readiness to ship 3,000,000 tons of Azerbaijani oil.

"We have no problems with supplies of Azerbaijani oil. Everything depends on the readiness of our oil refineries to it", said deputy chief of the Ministry of Fuel and Energy Burzu Aliyev.

He also announcement that additional capacities for transportation of oil will be promoted by State Oil Company of Azerbaijan's launching of the Kulevi oil terminal and Baku-Supsa pipeline, planned in the next 2 months.

On May 12, the Ukrainian delegation will hold more detailed talks in Baku.

The oil transportation to western refineries by Odessa-Brody pipeline will be only expedient at the volumes of at least 5-6 million tons per year. "Last year 9,000,000 tons of oil were pumped from Brody to Odessa and if we direct the pipe to Europe and pump 3,000,000 tons via it, it would not be profitable", said he.

At the same time, experts doubt about the soonest execution of the state plans "to turn" Odessa-Brody in the other direction.

"The talks are held in various formats, but no document has been signed so far, even on the intentions. We have not heard yet about the advantages of the Ukrainian variant of transportation, gap in tariffs, as compared to the existing pipelines", said head of the energy programs of the center named after Razumkov Vladimir Saprikin.

He said it is necessary to substantiate and prove that the Ukrainian pipeline is profitable to use and only after that to persuade investors, suppliers and consumers to seek financing and construct the Brody-Plotsk pipeline.

Source: Today.AZ