Kazakhstan Resumes Oil Exports Through Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Pipeline

Strategic Insights -

Kazakhstan's national oil company KazMunayGaz (KMG) has resumed oil exports through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, a crucial route for exporting oil from the Caspian region. The resumption comes after a quality issue was reported in some crude oil shipments in July 2025, but a full assessment along the pipeline confirmed that the crude met specifications. The BTC pipeline primarily transports oil from Azerbaijan's Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli field and Shah Deniz condensate, with additional volumes coming from Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and SOCAR in Azerbaijan.

Key Takeaways:

  • Kazakhstan's KazMunayGaz (KMG) has resumed oil exports through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline after a quality issue was reported in July 2025.
  • The pipeline primarily transports oil from Azerbaijan's Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli field and Shah Deniz condensate, as well as crude and condensate from Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and other Caspian sources.
  • In the first eight months of 2025, 0.9 million tons of Kazakh oil were transported via BTC.
  • KMG and Azerbaijan's SOCAR signed an agreement in 2022 on the transit of Kazakh oil, and in 2024 reached a deal on a phased increase in oil transit through Azerbaijan.
  • The BTC Co. shareholders include BP (30.1%), SOCAR (32.97%), MOL (8.9%), TPAO (6.53%), Eni (5%), TotalEnergies (5%), ITOCHU (3.4%), ONGC Videsh (3.1%), ExxonMobil (2.5%), and INPEX (2.5%).
  • The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline is a crucial route for exporting oil from the Caspian region.

Statistics:

  • 8.8 thousand tons of Kashagan oil were loaded from the port of Aktau for shipment via the BTC pipeline on September 13, 2025.
  • 0.9 million tons of Kazakh oil were transported via the BTC pipeline in the first eight months of 2025.
  • The next loading of Kazakh oil for shipment via the BTC pipeline is scheduled for September 20, 2025.

Sources:

  • Azeri-Press news agency
  • APA-Economics
  • KazMunayGaz (KMG) official statement
  • SOCAR official statement