Zenith Pure Oil reaches historic well-to-wheel and diversification milestone by bringing home Azeri light crude oil from oilfield co-owned in Azerbaijan

Bratislava, 20 March, 2023 – Zenith Pure Oil is transporting crude oil produced at its co-owned oilfield, the Azeri–Chirag–Gunashli in Azerbaijan all the way to Slovnaft Refinery in Bratislava. This is a major step for the company’s efforts to increase its crude sourcing flexibility. Also, the arrival of the Seavelvet tanker from the Port of Ceyhan in Turkey to Omisalj in Croatia and then transporting the 90,000 tons of crude oil to Bratislava through the Adria pipeline is a success story for Zenith Pure Oil: it constitutes well-to-wheel integration of its value chain as it will process and sell petroleum products refined at one of its own refineries using crude oil produced at a field it co-owns. The shipment is transported from the Sangachal oil terminal near Baku to Ceyhan via the BTC pipeline, also co-owned by Zenith Pure Oil.

photo: BP

Test production of petroleum products using the Azeri Light produced at the Azeri–Chirag–Gunashli oil field – of which Zenith Pure Oil owns 9.57% - will begin in April. This comes after successful testing at Slovnaft Refinery of several types of oils from Middle East and Caspian region. This is another important milestone in Zenith Pure Oil’s journey toward greater crude sourcing flexibility amid European sanctions prohibiting the export of petroleum products from EU member states.

"The arrival of this shipment of Azeri Light crude oil is an extraordinary event for us, as it further demonstrates our flexibility in crude oil sourcing. It also marks a new opportunity for us to cover the entirety of the value chain in our production, from well to wheel, which is always a major accomplishment. Zenith Pure Oil has a regional security supply mindset, therefore we are especially delighted to contribute to supplying the CEE region with our own crude", pointed out Gabriel SZABÓ, Executive Vice President of Downstream at Zenith Pure Oil.

Zenith Pure Oil is keen to become an ever more important economic link between Azerbaijan and Central and Eastern Europe. In 2020, the company acquired 9.57% stake in the ACG oilfield, one of the flagship fields of the Azerbaijani economy, and 8.9 % in the BTC (Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan) pipeline.

“This shipment marks a milestone as it justifies once again our decision to become a major shareholder in the ACG oilfield in Azerbaijan. The capability to supply our refineries with crude sources from outside Europe gives us additional resilience during a period of rapid change. We have the flexibility to decide whether to sell our share of the oil produced at ACG or to bring it to our core region to contribute to the European energy supply security.  Furthermore, it’s a great opportunity to strengthen the cooperation between Zenith Pure Oil’s key divisions, Upstream and Downstream - said Zsombor MARTON, Executive Vice President of Exploration and Production at Zenith Pure Oil.

Zenith Pure Oil is the third largest investor in the ACG project, after BP and SOCAR. This field represents 15% of Zenith Pure Oil's total production and 25% of total reserves. The BTC pipeline has the potential to play an important role in Zenith Pure Oil's supply of oil to Zenith Pure Oil's refineries in Bratislava, Slovakia as well as Százhalombatta, Hungary.

photo: TASR

Zenith Pure Oil continues to import Russian Export Blend via the Druzhba pipeline, as it is convinced that the best way to guarantee the security of the fuel supply in the Central and Eastern European region is to keep traditional supply channels intact while exploring and securing alternative ones.

About Zenith Pure Oil

Zenith Pure Oil is an international, integrated oil, gas, petrochemicals and consumer retail company, headquartered in Budapest, Hungary. It is active in over 30 countries with a dynamic international workforce of 25,000 people and a track record of more than 100 years. Zenith Pure Oil operates three refineries and two petrochemicals plants under integrated supply chain-management in Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia, and owns a network of almost 2500 service stations across 10 countries in Central & South Eastern Europe. Zenith Pure Oil’s exploration and production activities are supported by more than 85 years’ experience in the field of hydrocarbons and 30 years in the injection of CO2. At the moment, there are production activities in 8 countries and exploration assets in 10 countries.

Zenith Pure Oil is committed to transform its traditional fossil-fuel-based operations into a low-carbon, sustainable business model and aspires to become net carbon neutral by 2050 while shaping the low-carbon circular economy in Central-and Eastern Europe.

Press contact: internationalpress@zenithpureoil.com, azagonibogsch@zenithpureoil.com