Azerbaijan assures Israel that it will continue supplying oil

Azerbaijan has assured Israel that it will continue supplying oil, despite formally stopping oil exports in 2024, Middle East Eye via Haaretz reported on June 9th.

Azerbaijan removed oil sales to Israel from customs records after years of steady increases, with exports exceeding a million tons in 2024. Official records show a stop in exports to Israel in October, coinciding with the war on Gaza.

Yet, according to Haaretz, Israeli sources claimed sales have continued. They also suggested traders registered in third countries could be behind the exports, allowing Azerbaijan to obscure the oil’s final destination. “We received a promise from the Azerbaijanis that the strategic relations will continue, including in the energy sector, and we have nothing to worry about,” said one source.

Azerbaijan’s actions towards Israel carry a striking moral ambiguity, given that both nations have had strong claims of perpetuating genocide in recent years. Last year, an Armenian victims group, Center for Truth and Justice, pleaded with the International Criminal Court to pursue accusations of Azerbaijani atrocities in the territory of Karabakh, according to the Associated Press on April 18th 2024.

Two Israeli officials cited Turkish pressure as a key reason for the recorded halt. Azerbaijan exports oil to Israel through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, which passes through Turkey.

In May 2024, Ankara severed trade ties with Israel over the Gaza war and its refusal to allow Turkish humanitarian airdrops into the besieged enclave. Turkey has also condemned Israel for stopping aid ships carrying Greta Thunberg and other activists, Maghrebi reported on June 9th via Middle East Eye.

Despite the embargo, oil continues to reach Israel. Researchers tracked the Kimolos tanker making ten voyages in 2024 from Ceyhan to Ashkelon, with eight occurring after the embargo began.

On each trip, it left for Egypt, disappeared for days in the Eastern Mediterranean, then reappeared in Israel. The Seavigour tanker followed a similar pattern.

Azerbaijani Caspian Barrel Oil Research Centre chairman, Ilham Shaban, suggested Baku now sells oil through individuals to avoid public scrutiny. “[It] does not fuel the planes that annihilate Palestinian children,” he told Haaretz.

The oil, shipped from the Heydar Aliyev Terminal in Ceyhan, still accounts for nearly 30% of Israel’s crude imports. The Turkish energy ministry denies that any tankers bound for Israel have departed since May. However, advocacy group Oil Change International and satellite data suggest otherwise.

Middle East Eye via Haaretz, Associated Press, Maghrebi.org