Azerbaijan last year purchased around 11,267 tons of AI-92 gasoline from Turkmenistan, an increase of 2.7 times compared to 2019. The imports of Turkmen gasoline amounted to $6.92 million.
During the same period, Azerbaijan has reduced purchases of Russian AI-92 gasoline by 23.5 times to 4,688 tons, Interfax-Azerbaijan news agency reported last week. Azerbaijan’s imports of the Russian gasoline during the period were worth $2.88 million.
Last year, Azerbaijan’s AI-92 motor gasoline purchases totaled almost 15,955 tons, which is 7.2 times less than in 2019, a source in the oil and gas market told Interfax-Azerbaijan. In value terms, Azerbaijan’s imports of AI-92 gasoline in 2020 fell 7.9 times to $9.8 million.
Azerbaijan imported AI-92 gasoline only in the 4th quarter of 2020, according to the report.The purchases were result of Azerbaijani state-owned energy company SOCAR’s decision to create reserves in connection with a shutdown of the Baku Oil Refinery named after Heydar Aliyev for scheduled repairs from August 27 to late October.
During the period of repair works, AI-92 gasoline was not produced in the country.
The Baku Oil Refinery produces only AI-92 motor gasoline. Azerbaijan has been importing gasoline grades of AI-95 (premium) and AI-98 (super) since April 1, 2014.