KIEV, Ukraine, Feb. 16 (UPI) -- The Odessa-Brody pipeline through Ukraine started carrying crude oil from Azerbaijan to Belarus, the state oil shipping company announced.
Azeri and Ukrainian officials met on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in early February to discuss energy issues in Europe.
Kiev is trying to shore up its reputation as a transit hub for oil and natural gas while Azerbaijan moves to become a regional leader in energy as new reserves come on stream.
The 419-mile pipeline had been operated toward Russia following supply concerns. Russian oil is delivered to the Odessa-Brody pipeline from a junction of the Druzhba pipeline, the longest in the world.
Ukraine's oil-shipping monopoly UkrTransNafta said shipments of Azeri crude oil through the pipeline enhances the energy security for Ukraine and "the region and Europe as a whole," the company was quoted by the Platts news service as saying.
Sofia in January signed a deal with Azerbaijan to import 80,000 barrels of oil per day. The Ukrainian pipeline company noted that it would continue "reliable and uninterrupted transit of Russian oil" toward Eastern Europe.
Odessa-Brody can carry can carry as much as 87 million barrels of oil per year.
