Azerbaijan's oil exports via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline fell to 18.4 million tonnes in the January-August period, a decline of 5.3 per cent from a year earlier, Azerbaijani data showed on Friday, as the route was marred by tainted oil.
Organic chloride contamination in Azeri BTC crude cargoes was discovered in July, causing several days' delay in loadings from Turkey's BTC Ceyhan terminal.
The BTC pipeline, which runs through Georgia to Turkey, is used to export oil from the Azeri, Chirag and Guneshli oilfields, which are operated by BP.
Azerbaijan's total oil transit in the first eight months of the year amounted to 24.6 million tonnes, of which 74.7 per cent were shipped through the BTC, according to the country's statistics committee.
The volume of transit oil sourced from other countries, such as Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, via the BTC fell to 2.887 million tonnes from 3.584 million tonnes in the same period of 2024, the data showed.
(Reporting by Nailia Bagirova; Editing by Louise Heavens)
