Ports located in the Azov-Black Sea Basin have seen a significant increase in oil and oil product handling over the last few months.
Between January and July 2009, Russias Novorossiysk port increased Caspian oil transit by 18.6%, whilst Caspian oil transit via the Sheskharis terminal increased by a significant 59.8%. Deliveries of Kazakhstan oil via Caspian Pipeline Consortium (KTK) increased by 7.4% over the seven-month period, and deliveries of Russian oil to the KTK system grew by 36.3%.
Oil export via the Sheskharis terminal fell by 9.3% between January and July, while export via the Tuapse Commercial Seaport fell by 4.8%. However during these seven months there was an increase in oil product export of 3.3% via the oil terminal in Tuapse, and of 21.1% via Novorossiysk. Oil products handling via Kavkaz port increased by 17.4%, by 32.9% via Taganrog and by 2.6 times via Azov.
During the first seven months of 2009 Taganrog port handled 7.5 times more cabotage than in the same period of 2008, whilst oil handling in Kavkaz port was 29.8% higher than in the same period of 2008. Rail deliveries of oil via Kavkaz port to Ukraine fell by 17.6% between January and July 2009.
