By Erman CETE

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About 100 kilometers east of Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, lies the Azeri–Chirag–Deepwater Gunashli (ACG) oilfield, the largest in the Caspian basin’s Azerbaijani sector. Operated by BP Exploration Limited, it feeds directly into the infamous Baku–Tiflis–Ceyhan (BTC) Pipeline. 

South of Baku, at the Sangachal terminal, oil and gas are stored before being exported. According to BP, around 106 million barrels of oil and condensate passed through Sangachal in the first half of this year, primarily via the BTC Pipeline.

From there, oil crosses Azerbaijan and Georgia, enters Turkiye, and finally reaches the Turkish port of Ceyhan on the Mediterranean. As authors James Marriott and Mika Minio-Paluello explain in ‘The Oil Road: Journeys from the Caspian Sea to the City of London’ (2012), the oil takes two primary paths from Ceyhan: one to the Italian port of Miggia via the Greek Islands, the other south along the Levantine coast to the Suez Canal.

Pipeline to genocide

After that, oil and gas inexplicably find their way to fund the Israeli occupation state’s genocidal war on Gaza. The profits enrich bankers in the City of London and British Petroleum shareholders. Everyone wins – except the Palestinians.

The BTC Pipeline, stretching nearly 1,800 miles, is a main energy artery for the occupation state. It supplies an estimated 40 percent of Tel Aviv’s crude oil needs, while Israel ranks sixth among importers of Azerbaijani oil. Azerbaijan’s state-owned energy giant SOCAR, one of Israel’s key energy partners, is also Turkiye’s largest foreign investor, as confirmed by SOCAR Turkiye CEO Elchin Ibadov.

The BTC Pipeline’s legal foundation is anchored in two key agreements. The more consequential of the two comprises Host Government Agreements signed between BP’s BTC Consortium and each transit country. These contracts essentially override national sovereignty.

Article 2 of the Intergovernmental Agreement illustrates this starkly:

“Each State declares and guarantees that it is not a party to, or is not legally bound to apply or comply with, any internal law or regulation, or any international agreement or treaty, that is inconsistent with, undermines, or impedes this Agreement, or that adversely affects or restricts the State’s ability to enter into or implement this Agreement or other relevant Project Agreements.”

Even after the devastating earthquakes that shook south-eastern Turkey in 2023, it was BP who declared force majeure for the Ceyhan Terminal in Adana, where Azerbaijani oil is shipped.

This effectively prioritized oil exports over local disaster relief. A BP spokesperson in Baku confirmed the declaration, which allowed the company to bypass contractual obligations.

Beyond Baku: The global complicity network

Yet focusing solely on Azerbaijan and the BTC Pipeline obscures the bigger picture: The occupation state is deeply embedded in the global energy trade, both as importer and exporter.

Investor-owned and private oil companies are complicit. According to last year’s report by Oil Change International, these firms collectively supply 66 percent of Israel’s oil, with 35 percent of that share coming from six major international oil companies – BP, Chevron, Eni, ExxonMobil, Shell, and TotalEnergies – between October 2023 and July 2024.

Over the same period, Kazakhstan supplied 22 percent of Israeli crude. African nations – notably Gabon, Nigeria, and Congo – contributed 37 percent. Even Brazil, under President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (a vocal critic of Tel Aviv) continued shipments throughout 2024. In May 2025, Brazilian oil workers’ unions revealed in a joint letter to the president that 2.7 million barrels of crude had been exported to Israel that year.

Israel also imports refined petroleum products critical for its military occupation across Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria. Mediterranean states like Cyprus, Italy, Greece, and Albania have all shipped fuel, diesel, and naphtha.

Cyprus has additionally provided transshipment services. Meanwhile, Russian vacuum gas oil (VGO) continues to flow into Haifa’s refineries. One major source remains Kazakhstan’s CPC Blend crude, exported via Russia’s Black Sea port of Novorossiysk.

Despite its shift toward natural gas, coal still comprised 12.7 percent of Tel Aviv’s energy supply in 2023, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), with the top suppliers being BRICS nations. Colombia provides 50–60 percent of the coal. Russia and South Africa follow closely despite their condemnations of Israel and South Africa’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) genocide case. The US and China round out the top five.

Arab and Muslim countries are no exception. Following 7 October 2023, the Saudi-led OPEC bloc rejected Iran’s calls for an oil embargo. Tel Aviv continues to receive modest but steady crude flows through the Sumed (Suez-Mediterranean) Pipeline, transporting oil from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iraq, and Egypt. In 2020, Israel’s Europe–Asia Pipeline Co. signed a transport agreement with UAE firm RED Land Bridge Ltd., deepening the ties between Gulf states and Tel Aviv.

Leviathan’s bounty and Arab betrayal

Perhaps the most scandalous development is that Israel itself has become an energy source.

In August 2025, Egypt signed a record-breaking $35-billion gas deal with Tel Aviv, nearly tripling its gas imports from the Leviathan offshore fields – the largest export agreement in Israeli ‘history.’ NewMed Energy, an Israeli company, anticipates transporting 130 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas to Egypt by 2040.

Natural gas exports to Egypt and Jordan rose 13.4 percent in 2024, despite rhetorical condemnations from Arab leaders. Energy Minister Eli Cohen lauded the figures, claiming they prove Israel’s energy sector is a “strategic asset” and key to “regional stability.”

Reuters also noted that “Israel is positioning itself as a regional energy hub and has committed to supplying natural gas to Europe, which has been diversifying away from Russia since its invasion of Ukraine.”

Last year, the Leviathan field produced 11.33 bcm of gas, generating $282 million in revenue. The nearby Tamar field earned $232 million from 10.09 bcm. Total gas production rose 8.3 percent, with royalties climbing nearly 11 percent to $704.5 million. State revenues from gas are projected to hit $1.4 billion this year, doubling within a few years.

The masquerade of embargoes

On 21 August, Reuters reported that Turkiye informed its port authorities that ships linked to Israel would be barred from docking. The new requirement insists that guarantee letters confirm no Israeli ties or military cargo on board.

Ankara claims to have halted trade with Israel post-7 October. But the reality suggests otherwise. Tankers frequently disable their tracking systems in the eastern Mediterranean, feign destinations in Egypt or elsewhere, and arrange deliveries through third-country traders.

Russian Telegram channel Dva Mayora exposed Greek tankers Seavigour and Kimolos for involvement in these covert routes in 2025. As of 22 August, the Marshall Islands-flagged Nissos Antimilos was seen 190 kilometers west of Haifa, fresh from Ceyhan and awaiting an Israeli tanker for offshore transfer.

Arab and Muslim-majority states, it seems, prefer performative outrage over substantive action. Their duplicity ensures that, while Tel Aviv drops bombs on Gaza, the oil fueling its war machine flows uninterrupted.

Original article:  thecradle.co