Transneft has turned down a request from Azerbaijan’s Socar to supply crude to Novorossiysk from the Russian Caspian port of Makhachkala. Socar wanted to supply up to 170,000t of crude through Makhachkala in December while it carries out mainte- nance on the Azeri section of the Baku- Novorossiysk pipeline, through which it normally supplies oil to the Russian port. But Transneft has not confirmed its tech- nical capacity to take Azeri crude from Makhachkala, which is already used to deliver crude to Novorossiysk from Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Lukoil’s Korchagin field in the Russian sector of the Caspian Sea. Transneft also says it is usually difficult to allocate additional tanker positions at Novorossiysk in December because of stormy weather.
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