Azerbaijan may cut or stop oil exports via Russia

BAKU, Dec 1 (Reuters) Azeri President Ilham Aliyev today said his country would reduce or suspend altogether oil exports via Russia in response to Moscow's promise to cut gas supplies to Baku.

''We will reduce oil shipments along the Baku-Novorossiisk route. We may also consider stopping the shipments altogether,'' Aliyev said.

Azerbaijan exports 2.5 million tonnes of oil a year (50,000 barrels per day) to world markets through Russia's main Black Sea port of Novorossiisk. The Azeris can in theory divert these volumes to Black Sea ports in Georgia or to Turkey's Mediterranean coast.

Russia's gas monopoly Gazprom said last month it would drastically limit gas supplies to Azerbaijan because Azerbaijan's own gas production was set to rise and it was able to cover its own needs.

The pledge to cut supplies came after Baku promised to ship more gas to Georgia to help it avoid a major gas shortage after Moscow threatened to hault supplies to Tbilisi altogether.

REUTERS SBA BST0047