A contract on the transportation of Azeri oil via Russia to the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk was signed on 18 February 1996. The trilateral contract was concluded between the
Azerbaijan International Operating Company, SOCAR and Transneft. The oil transportation through the pipeline started on 25 October 1997. On 6 December 2006, after a dispute over natural gas supplies from Russia, Azerbaijan announced that it will stop the exports of Azeri oil through the Baku–Novorossiysk pipeline starting on 1 January 2007. Although SOCAR continued decreased oil supplies through the Baku-Novorossiysk Pipeline, the Azerbaijan International Operating Company stopped using the pipeline starting from 1 April 2007 and SOCAR became the new operator of the Azerbaijani section. SOCAR temporarily stopped oil supplies through the pipeline in February 2008 due to a pricing disagreement with Transneft. The crude oil transported through Baku–Novorossiysk pipeline is developed within the framework of
Early Oil Project, first stage of larger
Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) project. From March to July 2019, the pipeline closed down for maintenance. In October 2020, according to Azerbaijani sources, the pipeline was the target of armed attacks by Armenian forces. In January 2021, a deal was signed between SOCAR and Transneft to transport over 1 million tons of oil through the pipeline, but from January to February 15th, 2021, no oil passed through the pipeline (derouted via Turkey instead). ==Route==