Moscow is seeking new markets for its energy
Оригинальный текст опубликован на сайте «Upstream», 16 October 2023 6:56 GMT . Автор: Материал доступен по .
In his first visit outside Russia since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant for his arrest in March, President Vladimir Putin flew to Kyrgyzstan last week to confirm that his country will continue to offer cheap energy supplies to the landlocked Central Asian nation.
Russia is seeking new markets in for its energy as it faces international sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine.
Russia has committed to deliver about 9 million barrels of oil and oil products to the country per year, continue with supplies of electricity, and consider natural gas deliveries to Kyrgyzstan.
“Deliveries [of Russian hydrocarbons] are carried out on preferential terms, without collecting export customs duties”, which is positive both for the republic and for companies working in the country, Putin said in Kyrgyzstan’s capital of Bishkek, according to Russian state news agency Tass.
The ICC’s arrest warrant for Putin is tied to allegations that he oversaw the illegal deportation of children from Ukraine.
Russian gas giant Gazprom has recently inaugurated gas exports to Uzbekistan, paving the way for Moscow to firm its energy grip over former Soviet states in Central Asia.
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Russian gas may reach Kyrgyzstan via Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, which host a legacy gas line known as Central Asia – Centre and that previously was used for gas exports to Russia.
However, the system was upgraded and reversed this summer to fulfil Russian promises to deliver discounted Russian gas to Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.
In August, Kyrgyz energy minister Taalaybek Ibayev said that authorities plan to use Russian gas to replace coal as a source of fuel at power and heat generation facilities in Bishkek and surrounding areas, according to Russian state news agency Ria-Novosti.
Offer to Azerbaijan
Besides Kyrgyzstan, Russia has offered an order for Azerbaijan, promising to supply about 29.3 million barrels of oil production.
Speaking in Moscow last week, Russian deputy prime minister in charge for energy issues Alexander Novak offered to reverse the flow in a legacy pipeline that carries oil from Baku in Azerbaijan to the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk in Russia.
Novak said that Moscow may arrange annual deliveries of more than 29 million barrels of Russian oil to Azerbaijan, according to Baku-based news agency Interfax-Azerbaijan.
The country may then process this oil into fuels for domestic consumption, while freeing a similar volume of its own oil production that could be exported to more lucrative international markets, Novak suggested.
However, a partner at the Baku-based Centre for Oil Studies, Ilham Shaban, said it would be highly unlikely that Azerbaijan would embrace the Russian oil supply proposal.
Azerbaijan is already capable of importing oil by tankers across the Caspian Sea from Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and offshore developments in the Russian sector of the sea, managed by Russia’s Lukoil, he said.
Shaban said Azerbaijan had halted exports of its oil via the Baku – Novorossiysk pipeline in February last year following the Russian invasion into Ukraine in anticipation of higher navigational risks in the Black Sea.
Because of similar concerns, the country also stopped sending its oil via another pipeline, running from Baku to the Black Sea port of Supsa in Georgia, in March 2022.
Azeri state oil operator Socar had not responded to an Upstream request for comment on Novak’s proposal by the time of this article’s publication.