Tengizchevroil to resume crude exports via BTC pipeline in November – sources

Kazakhstan’s Tengizchevroil (TCO) will resume crude oil exports through the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline in November after a pause since August, three industry sources said.

One of the sources said 130,000 tonnes of Tengiz crude are scheduled for shipment next month. TCO declined to comment on its operations.

Exports were halted in mid-July after excessive levels of organic chlorides were found in some batches of Caspian crude transported via BTC, disrupting Azeri BTC loadings at Turkey’s Ceyhan port and suspending Kazakh supplies.

KazMunayGaz resumed BTC shipments in September–October using Kashagan crude, while flows from Tengiz remained suspended. Kazakh crude reaches Baku by tankers from Aktau and is then transported through BTC to Ceyhan.

Kazakhstan shipped 0.9 million tonnes of oil via BTC in the first nine months of 2025 and plans to raise volumes to 2.2 million tonnes in 2026, up from the 1.7 million planned for this year. Azerbaijan aims to boost transit of Kazakh oil to as much as 7 million tonnes a year by 2027.

Oil exports through BTC, operated by Britain’s BP, totalled 20.57 million tonnes in January–September 2025, down from 21.68 million tonnes a year earlier.

TCO’s main shareholder is U.S. major Chevron (50%), with stakes also held by ExxonMobil (25%), KazMunayGaz (20%) and Lukoil (5%).

N.Tebrizli