Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR said it has shipped 728,768 tonnes of oil via Russia from the start of the year.
The number is down in comparison from 930,671 in the same period last year.
The decline is attributed to SOCAR being unable to export via the Baku-Novorossiisk pipeline for the first two months of the year.
It resumed exports via the pipeline in March after signing an agreement in late February with AK Transneft on shipments, ending a three-month hiatus while a new deal was negotiated.
Azerbaijan ships a small proportion of its oil exports via Russia and uses routes through Georgia and Turkey for the bulk of its crude shipments.
SOCAR said it expects to ship 1.3million tonnes of Azeri crude through Russia this year, up from 1.27 million tonnes in 2015 and 1.02million tonnes in 2014.