BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 23. Crude oil exports from Azerbaijan and Iraq via the Ceyhan oil terminal averaged about one million barrels per day in January 2023, Trend reports via Standard & Poor’s (S&P) Global Ratings agency.
“On Feb. 6, a pair of devastating earthquakes hit Türkiye and Syria. Beyond huge human losses, the earthquakes inflicted significant damage to critical infrastructure and disrupted domestic trade, mainly in Türkiye, with the potential for global impact,” the agency said.
According to the agency, global markets quickly responded to the quakes with a brief spike in oil prices, as the impact of the disaster triggered supply concerns.
S&P noted that due to power outage and tank damage in the immediate aftermath of the earthquakes, operations were halted at the Ceyhan oil terminal in Türkiye, a major export route for refiners based in the Mediterranean Sea, and as a result, certain crude exports from Azerbaijan and Iraq were suspended.
Crude loadings have since resumed in the Ceyhan oil terminal after damage to the Iraq-Türkiye oil pipeline, one of the pipelines that pass through the earthquake zone, was repaired, the agency reminded.
Citing a spokesperson for operator bp, the S&P Global Commodity Insights [a division of S&P Global] said that the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, meanwhile, remained intact, and crude oil was being stored at the oil tanks in the Ceyhan hub.
Global oil prices steadied a few days after the spike, and stock trading in Türkiye resumed Feb. 15 after a brief pause, the agency stressed.
“Due to Türkiye's important maritime position between the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea, the damage caused by the earthquakes is also impacting the shipping sector. Türkiye’s Iskenderun port, on the Mediterranean coast, suffered substantial damage from the quakes and a subsequent container fire, which brought operations to a standstill and affected shipments for global logistics companies such as Maersk,” S&P explained.