(JNS) Israel’s imports of Azerbaijani oil via the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline and then by sea reached a three-year high last year, despite the trade ban Ankara imposed in the wake of the war against Hamas in Gaza.
The data underscored the strong ties between the Jewish state and the predominantly Shi’ite nation in the South Caucasus.
Israel’s imports of Azerbaijani crude oil from Ceyhan increased 31% year over year to 94,000 barrels per day in 2025—the most since 2022 and widening a lead over Russia, Israel’s second-largest supplier.
Azerbaijani crude accounted for 46.4% of Israeli oil imports last year, the highest share this decade and far ahead of Russia with about 28%, Kpler data showed.
The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline route, Jan. 4, 2021. Credit: Charles/Creative Commons via Wikimedia Commons.
Turkey, which imposed a complete trade ban on Israel in 2024, has no control over where Azerbaijani oil pumped through the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline is sold.
“Despite enormous pressure from various sides to sever or reduce contacts with Israel, Azerbaijan is consistently expanding and strengthening the strategic partnership between our countries,” Roman Gurevich, honorary ambassador of the Jewish Agency in Azerbaijan, told JNS on Thursday. “The data proves how reliable and strong a partner Israel has in Azerbaijan.”
For Israel, ties with Azerbaijan—which shares a 428-mile border with Iran, a country that is home to tens of millions of ethnic Azeris—are of strategic importance, both as a conduit for reconnaissance and because of its light crude oil.
At the same time, Azerbaijan is a leading purchaser of Israeli military hardware, which helped Baku in the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War with archrival Armenia in 2020. The victory greatly strengthened Baku region in a time of geopolitical change.
Three years ago, Azerbaijan made history by becoming the first Shi’ite Muslim country to open an embassy in Israel, defying threats from Iran and putting its longstanding friendship with Israel out in the open.
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