KazMunayGas, Kazakhstan's national oil and gas company, announced on Monday that the Taraz tanker, carrying oil from the Kashagan field, has departed from the Aktau port, bound for Baku, Azerbaijan.
This shipment marks the first delivery of Kashagan oil to Baku and is in line with a directive from Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to develop alternative hydrocarbon export routes.
The oil will transit through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline system to the Mediterranean Sea. KazMunayGas stated that this move aims to strengthen the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (Middle Corridor).
A framework agreement between KazMunayGas and Azerbaijan’s State Oil Company (SOCAR) was signed in 2022 regarding Kazakh oil transit.
A subsequent agreement in March 2024 outlined plans to gradually increase annual oil transit volumes through Azerbaijan to 2.2 million tons.
The Kashagan field, the largest oil and gas field in Kazakhstan's Caspian Sea sector, resumed full operation in November 2024 after a month-long maintenance closure.