Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

is one of the birthplaces of the

oil industry The petroleum industry, also known as the oil industry, includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transportation (often by oil tankers and pipelines), and marketing of petroleum products. The largest volume products ...

and its history is linked to the fortunes of petroleum, with

pipelines A pipeline is a system of pipes for long-distance transportation of a liquid or gas, typically to a market area for consumption. The latest data from 2014 gives a total of slightly less than of pipeline in 120 countries around the world. The Un ...

used from the late 19th century. The total length of the main pipeline in Azerbaijan is Baku pipelines

The centre of the country's oil industry and nexus of its pipelines are at

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

. The first oil pipeline was formed in Absheron district in connection with oil production in the country. The total length of the country's oil pipeline is more than , with 80% of it located in the Absheron Economic Region. Important oil pipelines within the republic include:

Shirvan Shirvan (from ; ; Tat: ''Şirvan'') is a historical region in the eastern Caucasus, as known in both pre-Islamic Sasanian and Islamic times. Today, the region is an industrially and agriculturally developed part of the Republic of Azerbaijan ...

–Baku (former Ali-Bayramly–Baku), ; Shirvan–Dashgil, ; Dubandi-Boyukshor, ; Dubandi-Keshla, ; Dashgil-Sangachal-Keshla, ; Buzovna-Sabunchu, ; and Binagadi-Keshla, .

Pipelines

There had been an oil industry at

since at least the 17th century. Beginning in the 19th century, pipelines were constructed to transport crude oil from the oil fields to the refineries. The first pipeline was constructed in 1878 by Baku Oil Refinery, connecting to Balakhani Mines. The

–Batumi oil pipeline was put into operation in the beginning of the 20th century. Oil and gas field exploitation in Absheron and the Caspian Sea required the construction of new pipelines to Baku. These main oil pipelines are Alibayramly–Baku, Neftdashlari–Baku, and Siyazan–Baku. Natural gas is transported through Garadagh–Agstafa, Garadagh–Baku, Siyazan–Baku, Neftdashlari–Baku, and Zira–Baku pipelines. The main route options for export pipelines (to Europe) are: * Baku-Batum pipeline (1897-1907) * Baku–Grozny–Novorossiysk ( the northern route) * Baku–Tbilisi–Supsa (the western route) * Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan (main oil pipeline named after

Heydar Aliyev Heydar Alirza oghlu Aliyev (10 May 1923 – 12 December 2003) was an Azerbaijani politician who was a Soviet party boss in the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic from 1969 to 1982, and the third president of Azerbaijan from October 1993 to ...

) * Baku–Tbilisi–Erzurum gas pipeline (a.k.a.

Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline The Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline (, ) is a proposed subsea pipeline between Türkmenbaşy in Turkmenistan, and Baku in Azerbaijan. According to some proposals it would also include a connection between the Tengiz Field in Kazakhstan, the Sangach ...

)

Baku–Grozny–Tikhoretsk–Novorossiysk

The agreement for the northern route was signed on February 18, 1996, in Moscow. This pipeline transports Azerbaijani oil into the

Russian Federation Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

to the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. The total length of the Baku–Grozny–

Tikhoretsk Tikhoretsk () is a town in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. It is the administrative center of the Tikhoretsky urban settlement and the Tikhoretsky District of the Krasnodar Territory. Population: Administrative and municipal status Within the framew ...

–Novorossiysk (BGTN) oil pipeline is , including in Azerbaijan. The transportation of Azerbaijani oil through the northern route started on October 25, 1997. A trilateral agreement signed among AIOC (Azerbaijan International Operating Company),

SOCAR The State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan (), largely known by its abbreviation SOCAR, is a fully state-owned national oil and gas company headquartered in Baku, Azerbaijan. The company produces oil and natural gas from onshore and o ...

(State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic) and

Transneft Joint Stock Company Transneft () is a state-controlled pipeline transport company headquartered in Moscow, Russia. It is the largest oil pipeline company in the world. The company is operating over of trunk pipelines and transports about 80% ...

(the Russian state-owned pipeline company) includes all legal and technical issues of transportation of oil to Novorossiysk. Russia accepted in the agreement that the ownership of the oil remains with the producer, which is part of Azerbaijan's new oil strategy. It was intended to transport 2.5 thousand tons of crude oil per day through Dubandi–Boyukshor–Siyazan–Shirvanovka pipeline. 120 thousand tons of oil had been exported through the northern route by the end of 1997.

Baku–Tbilisi–Supsa

The second pipeline is the western route, Baku–Tbilisi–Supsa, made through an agreement between the presidents of Azerbaijan and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

on March 8, 1996. It has a total length of with in Azerbaijan. It transports primary Azeri oil from

Azeri–Chirag–Gunashli Azeri–Chirag–Gunashli (ACG, ) or Azeri–Chirag–Deepwater Gunashli is a complex of oil fields in the Caspian Sea, about off the coast of Azerbaijan. It consists of the Azeri oilfield, Azeri and Chirag oilfield, Chirag oil fields, and the Gu ...

fields through Baku. Trilateral contracts were signed among AIOC, SOCAR and the Georgian government. This line was put into operation on April 17, 1999, and exports 15 million tons of oil per year to Western countries It has lower operating costs than the northern route; transporting a ton of oil to Novorossiysk costs 15.67, but to Supsa is $13.14. From the Georgian port of Supsa, oil can then be shipped via the Bosporus.

Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan

The Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline transports oil to the Turkish port of Ceyhan on the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, described as the List of lakes by area, world's largest lake and usually referred to as a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia: east of the Caucasus, ...

for export to European markets through the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

. It has a total length of with in Azerbaijan, in Georgia and in Turkey. Since 2006, 50 million tons of oil per year is exported through this pipeline.

Baku–Tbilisi–Erzurum gas pipeline

A commercial agreement was signed on the sale of natural gas from

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ash ...

to Turkey, carried via pipeline through Azerbaijan and Georgia to the Turkish port of Erzurum in Turkey, from where it will be sold to Europe. The pipeline was planned to be long with a capacity of 30 billion cubic metres per year.

Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline

The Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline (TANAP) is planned to transport natural gas across Turkey, expanding the capacity from the South Caucasus pipeline. It is to start in Azerbaijan and connect to several pipelines in the European Union. The projected cost of the pipeline and associated infrastructure is 7 billion. The first of four stages was to be completed in 2018. Planned capacity of the pipeline is 16 billion cubic meters in 2020, 23 billion cubic meters in 2023, and 31 billion cubic meters in 2026. During the first period, it is to be sold 10:6 to Europe and Turkey, with the European portion being transported through Turkey to Bulgaria or Greece.

Trans Adriatic gas pipeline

Wholly outside of Azerbaijan, the Trans Adriatic Pipeline project (TAP) would connect TANAP to European pipelines. The planned pipeline would connect to TANAP at the Greece–Turkey border, passing through Greece, Albania, and crossing the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Se ...

to Italy. In Italy, it is to connect with the "Snam Rete Gas" (SRG) network. The TAP project was chosen as the most direct way to export natural gas from Azerbaijan to European markets. An intergovernmental agreement was signed between Albania, Italy and Greece in February 2013.

References

{{commons category * http://www.petroleumworld.com/eveditorial-op18102901.htm Economy of Azerbaijan