{"id":46107,"date":"2026-05-22T10:10:43","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T10:10:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/media.am\/?p=46107"},"modified":"2026-06-17T09:01:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T09:01:18","slug":"azerbaijan-does-not-export-premium-gasoline-exclusively-to-armenia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/verified\/2026\/05\/22\/46107\/","title":{"rendered":"Azerbaijan Does Not Export Premium Gasoline Exclusively To Armenia"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">On December 19, 2025, a train consisting of 22 railcars carrying a total of 1,218 tons of AI-95 (premium) gasoline <\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.am\/am\/news\/item\/16258\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">arrived<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> in Armenia from Azerbaijan through Georgia.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This event <a href=\"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/verified\/2026\/01\/20\/44662\/\">sparked<\/a> a wave of criticism in Armenia. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">On January 8, journalist Artyom Yerkanyan<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/artem.yerkanyan\/posts\/pfbid02rmTy9wscZKUdKR1Dy83UZLkAFQepZw92aK9RBQd5s46wgNsjtZ5aeuud2SesQcCdl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">&nbsp;wrote<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">&nbsp;(<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/HH4yX\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">archived<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">) on his Facebook page that the Azerbaijani oil refinery produces premium gasoline for Armenia, while Baku covers most of its domestic needs through imports from other countries, including Georgia.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Did you know that the Heydar Aliyev Oil Refinery in Baku produces premium gasoline for Armenia? Meanwhile, Azerbaijan meets most of its own gasoline consumption through imports from other countries, including Georgia.&#8221; The journalist wrote, questioning why Armenia buys gasoline from Azerbaijan rather than from Georgia.<\/p>\n<p>Artyom Yerkanyan&#8217;s post contains some misleading points. Particularly, there is no evidence to support the claim that Azerbaijan produces premium gasoline exclusively for Armenia. <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/spreadsheets\/d\/158URmDgQu9QNKDDC-ZAjE6gUU9ZVqb9d\/edit?usp=sharing&amp;ouid=105512290730894296097&amp;rtpof=true&amp;sd=true\">According<\/a> to the Georgian Statistical Committee, in 2025, Azerbaijan both imported and exported premium gasoline to Georgia. Additionally, Armenia also buys premium gasoline from Georgia.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><b>&nbsp;Georgia-Azerbaijan: premium gasoline trade<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Over the past four years, trade turnover in gasoline with an octane rating between 95 and 98 between Georgia and Azerbaijan has fluctuated.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>In 2022-2025, Georgia was a supplier (or re-exporter) of this type of fuel to Azerbaijan, but the volumes are highly variable.<\/li>\n<li>In 2022, the lowest export figure was recorded in the period under review, only 2,163 tons.<\/li>\n<li>In 2023, volumes increased almost fivefold, reaching 10,077 tons.<\/li>\n<li>In 2024, volumes declined by about 37.7% from the previous year to 6,274 tons.<\/li>\n<li>In 2025, exports reached a record high, totalling 11,035 tons (an increase of about 75.8% from the previous year).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-46088\" src=\"https:\/\/media.am\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ChatGPT-Image-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.am\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ChatGPT-Image-2.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/media.am\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ChatGPT-Image-2-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/media.am\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ChatGPT-Image-2-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/media.am\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ChatGPT-Image-2-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p>The dynamics of premium gasoline imports to Georgia are intriguing. In 2022, 2023, and 2024, no high-octane gasoline was imported from Azerbaijan to Georgia.<\/p>\n<p>However, in 2025, the picture changed dramatically, and Georgia imported 4,196.3 tons of gasoline from Azerbaijan. If trade was one-sided from 2022 to 2024, it became two-way in 2025. This suggests changes in logistics or production within the market.<\/p>\n<p>And Armenia imported 11,392 tons of premium gasoline from Georgia in 2025, and 1,215 from Azerbaijan.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-46090\" src=\"https:\/\/media.am\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.am\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/media.am\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/media.am\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Georgia<a href=\"https:\/\/ridl.io\/when-oil-becomes-georgian\/?referrer=grok.com\"> imports<\/a> a significant portion of its gasoline. Thus, the volumes exported to Azerbaijan are likely re-exports.<\/p>\n<p>Thus, Artyom Yerkanyan&#8217;s statement is based on the dynamics of unilateral trade in previous years and on unsubstantiated assumptions. Statistical data for 2025 show that Azerbaijan does not produce premium gasoline exclusively for Armenia; it also exports it to Georgia. Moreover, Armenia already imports premium fuel from Georgia, exceeding Azerbaijani imports by about 10 times.<\/p>\n<p><b><\/b><strong>Azerbaijan\u2019s gasoline market<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The \u201cEnergy of Azerbaijan 2025\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/1AqlpSOELmoVTkinDwsjdaBNsb9MYsJPi\/view?usp=sharing\">yearbook<\/a>, published by the State Statistical Committee of Azerbaijan, provides data on gasoline production and consumption for the years 2020 to 2024. According to the report, Baku started producing premium gasoline in 2024. However, the production volumes of AI-92 (regular), AI-95 (premium), and AI-98 (super) gasoline are combined and presented as a single figure. Our study relies on general indicators from the Azerbaijani gasoline market.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Published data show that Tbilisi accounts for a small share of Azerbaijan\u2019s total gasoline imports. According to the UN <a href=\"https:\/\/comtradeplus.un.org\/Tariffline\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Comtrade Database<\/a>&nbsp;(data available&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/spreadsheets\/d\/1q9oMnRjJ9-FekcC-aA6HJ5Qv20hiUniNCEm_czu67rw\/edit?gid=781709503#gid=781709503\">here<\/a>), during 2020-2024, Georgia supplied gasoline (database search code: 271012) to Azerbaijan twice, in 2021 and 2023, totalling 2,883 tons.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p>In contrast, in 2020-2024, Azerbaijan exported about 77 tons of gasoline to Georgia.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As for 2025, the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/ex-trade.geostat.ge\/\">Statistical Committee of Georgia<\/a>&nbsp;reported that from January to November, Azerbaijan&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/spreadsheets\/d\/11-53Qs1JewEsde0uQr-GxpzOgZsPMBOO\/edit?usp=sharing&amp;ouid=105512290730894296097&amp;rtpof=true&amp;sd=true\">imported<\/a>&nbsp;gasoline from Georgia valued at $9,541, while&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/spreadsheets\/d\/1v2QG_yKD-kU8ed5tTyILKtmlPHGZmRq2\/edit?usp=sharing&amp;ouid=105512290730894296097&amp;rtpof=true&amp;sd=true\">exporting<\/a>&nbsp;gasoline worth $573,328.\u0589<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p>According to the Comtrade Database, Armenia purchased a total of 1,323 tons of gasoline from Georgia between 2020 and 2024.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><b>How much gasoline does Azerbaijan produce and consume?<\/b><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/1AqlpSOELmoVTkinDwsjdaBNsb9MYsJPi\/view?usp=sharing\">Statistics<\/a>&nbsp;from Azerbaijan\u2019s energy sector over the past five years (2020-2024) indicate that the country has been unable to meet its gasoline demand.<\/p>\n<p>In 2020, production nearly matched consumption, resulting in a deficit of only 3,700 tons, with production fulfilling 99.6% of demand.<\/p>\n<p><iframe class=\"flourish-embed-iframe\" style=\"width: 100%; height: 600px;\" title=\"Interactive or visual content\" src=\"https:\/\/flo.uri.sh\/visualisation\/27306759\/embed\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" sandbox=\"allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-scripts allow-downloads allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>However, since 2020, gasoline consumption in Azerbaijan has risen significantly. In 2020, approximately 1.170 million tons were consumed, and by 2024, this figure reached 1.626 million tons. Over the five years, domestic demand has increased by about 39%. Meanwhile, gasoline production has not grown at the same pace. In 2023, production peaked, but even then, the deficit was 100,300 tons.<\/p>\n<p>The situation worsened in 2024, with production falling to 1.251 million tons. The production-consumption deficit in 2024 was about 375,000 tons.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><b>How much gasoline does Azerbaijan export, and how much does it import?<\/b><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>From 2020 to 2024, Azerbaijan imported more gasoline than it exported. According to the Comtrade Database, imports in 2024 reached nearly 380,000 tons, double the amount imported in 2023. This figure closely matches the deficit between production and consumption, indicating that foreign purchases covered the entire shortfall. In 2024, gasoline produced in Azerbaijan met 76.9% of domestic demand.<\/p>\n<p><iframe class=\"flourish-embed-iframe\" style=\"width: 100%; height: 600px;\" title=\"Interactive or visual content\" src=\"https:\/\/flo.uri.sh\/visualisation\/27306795\/embed\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" sandbox=\"allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-scripts allow-downloads allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>In 2020, Azerbaijan exported approximately 64,000 tons of gasoline, but by 2024, that number had plummeted to just 5,671 tons. As a result, the Azerbaijani authorities were forced to nearly completely halt exports.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>Main import and export directions<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>From 2020 to 2024, Russia was the primary supplier of gasoline to Baku, exporting a total of 727,218 tons to Azerbaijan.<\/p>\n<p>In 2024, the majority of gasoline imported into Azerbaijan came from Russia and Belarus, with Moscow significantly surpassing Belarus, selling 191,442 tons to Baku.<\/p>\n<p>The only exception was 2021, when Romania ranked first in gasoline supplies to Azerbaijan, delivering 66,945 tons.<\/p>\n<p>In 2023 and 2024, Turkey became the leading destination for Azerbaijani gasoline exports. In 2023, nearly 67% of exports were directed to Turkey, and this share increased further in 2024 to approximately 74% of total exports.<\/p>\n<p>Georgia is the only country that Azerbaijan has consistently supplied with gasoline in recent years, though the volumes are relatively small.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>The situation in &nbsp;2025 according Azerbaijani media<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>According to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/ru.trend.az\/business\/energy\/4118127.html\">data<\/a>&nbsp; (<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/NJdMD\">archive<\/a>) from the Statistical Committee of Azerbaijan, reported by Trend.az, Azerbaijan imported 105,300 tons of AI-25 gasoline from six countries between January and September 2025. The total cost of these imports was $89.7 million. During the same period, Azerbaijan also exported 4,200 tons of AI-25 gasoline valued at $2.8 million. Notably, Georgia was one of the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/abc.az\/en\/news\/186946\/azerbaijan-exported-premium-gasoline-first-time\">destinations<\/a>&nbsp;(a<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/bG07l\">rchive<\/a>) for these exports, with Azerbaijan selling 4,196 tons of premium gasoline to Georgia from January to August.<\/p>\n<p>In December 2025, Report.az, citing the Statistical Committee,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/report.az\/ru\/energetika\/azerbajdzhan-uvelichil-import-benzina-iz-oae-v-25-raz\">wrote<\/a>&nbsp;that Azerbaijan had resumed importing premium gasoline from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) starting in October. It was reported that from January to October, a total of 19,684 tons of gasoline, valued at $17.1 million, were imported from the UAE.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Azerbaijan continues to import large volumes of premium gasoline while exporting only small amounts, a trend that has persisted into 2025.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In March 2025, Azerbaijani media<a href=\"https:\/\/haqqin.az\/news\/359918\">&nbsp;reported<\/a>&nbsp;that gasoline production issues in Azerbaijan began after a fire at the Heydar Aliyev Oil Refinery, leading to a 12.3% decline in overall production in the first quarter.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Thus, it turns out that in recent years, gasoline consumption in Azerbaijan has sharply increased, while production has failed to meet demand. As a result, Baku imports a significant amount of gasoline. However, Azerbaijan also exports both gasoline and premium gasoline, with Georgia among its primary destinations.<strong>&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On December 19, 2025, a train consisting of 22 railcars carrying a total of 1,218 tons of AI-95 (premium) gasoline arrived in Armenia from Azerbaijan through Georgia. This event sparked a wave of criticism in Armenia. On January 8, journalist Artyom Yerkanyan&nbsp;wrote&nbsp;(archived) on his Facebook page that the Azerbaijani oil refinery produces premium gasoline for<a class=\"moretag\" href=\"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/verified\/2026\/05\/22\/46107\/\"> Read the full article&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":186,"featured_media":46093,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[212,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured-post","category-verified","author_posts-ophelia-simonyan-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/186"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46107"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46107\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46452,"href":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46107\/revisions\/46452"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}