Azeri SOCAR's Oil Shipments via Russia Up 40 pct

Azerbaijan's SOCAR shipped 593,449 tonnes of oil via Russia in the first five months of 2015, up from 423,644 tonnes in the same period last year, the state energy company said on Friday.

SOCAR said in January it had signed a one-year contract with Russian oil pipeline operator Transneft to transport 1.7 million tonnes of oil through the Baku-Novorossiisk pipeline, up from 1.02 million tonnes in 2014.

SOCAR had planned to halt oil exports via Russia in February 2014, opting instead to send the bulk of its crude through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline and retaining some to cover rising domestic demand for oil products.

The company reversed its plans later that month.

Oil exports via Russia for the whole of 2013 totalled 1.75 million tonnes, down from 2.06 million in 2012.

(Reporting by Nailia Bagirova)